


Nature Versus Nuture

by tremblingharmonies



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Domestic, Human Characters with Guardian Powers, M/M, Murder, Rise of the Guardians AU, Torture, Violence, human!Bunny, trigger warning: blood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-25
Updated: 2015-11-20
Packaged: 2017-12-12 22:57:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 28,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/817041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tremblingharmonies/pseuds/tremblingharmonies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Guardians and Pitch are involved in a murderous cult under the watchful eyes of the Man in the Moon. When Jack and Bunny have something precious stolen from them, they will stop at nothing to get it back. These are the consequences.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue and Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Many thanks to my wonderful co-author Maneshi, who has posted this on fanfiction.net as well.
> 
> The first chapter is a bit OC heavy but I promise that the main cast comes really quickly into the spotlight after that! We sincerely hope that you'll give our story a chance, and any constructive criticism is welcome! 
> 
> We hope you enjoy!
> 
> *EDIT* I have been informed that I should not have put the prologue and the first chapter into one posting. Apologies for the confusion.

PROLOGUE

A woman ran full pelt down the alley way. She sobbed as she ran, stumbling slightly but moving forward. The sound of the footsteps getting closer and closer forced her onward. She heard a laugh from behind her; he was enjoying this. This was like some sick game of tag to him. He called out to her suddenly, his thick Australian accent mocking,

“You’re tiring sweetheart, why not stop and rest?” He didn’t even sound the least out of breath. A string of inarticulate curses streamed from the woman’s mouth. She looked back for just a moment, trying to catch sight of the huntsman, when suddenly she felt something snag her foot and she flew forward. The man stopped just feet away from the woman. She scrambled to put her back against the brick wall. A chuckle in his voice, the man called out,

“Now that we’ve got that bit out of the way, how about we make this next bit easy.” He pulled a long, curved piece of intricately carved wood from over his shoulder. As he brandished the boomerang to throw, a second man dressed all in black seemed to melt out of the shadows. 

“Evening Aster.” He said with a casual, drawling voice. A look of irritation flashed across the first man, Aster’s, face. 

“Can’t you see I’m busy, Pitch?” He shot back over his shoulder, never taking his eyes off her. The slender man, Pitch, leaned against the wall opposite of where they stood, and countered in the same drawling voice,

“Oh well, I suppose you are busy.” He glanced at her for a moment, “Far too busy to hear the wonderful news I had come to share.” Aster rolled his eyes. With a sigh, he turned toward Pitch. 

“What news?” he asked, his voice deadly serious. A broad smirk spread across Pitch’s face, and he paused before answering.

“I’ve found her.” A moment passed. Aster’s eyes widened. He rushed forward and grabbed Pitch by the shoulders and looked him hard in the face.

“Tell me where she is.” He demanded in a deep growl. He scowled deeply at the snide grin on Pitch’s face. The terrified woman, seizing her chance, had started to creep away, but the shadows from the wall suddenly became tangible, and wrapped around her in a suffocating cocoon. She struggled uselessly against the tightly woven bonds.

“My my, eager, aren’t we? So eager you’ve seemed to have forgotten your manners.” Pitch teased the taller man. The woman watched as Aster took a firmer hold of Pitch and shook him slightly, bringing his face to within an inch of the shadowy man’s. 

“Don’t mess with me Pitch!!” He snarled, his green eyes livid with fire. The grin on Pitch’s face diminished. The men stared each other down. Finally, Pitch looked away, and sighed reluctantly. 

“All right.” With that, Pitch began to quietly convey to Aster his new bout of information. In the meantime, the woman continued to struggle and shout against her thick, vaporous restraints. Had she not been so far gone with fear, she would have questioned how shadows could become solid forms and move of their own accord. That, however, would turn out to be the least of her concerns once the men finished talking. With a wave of his hand, Pitch released her, and she felt the force of the shadows throw her across the alleyway, rolling across rocks and sharp bits of debris before she stopped near Aster’s feet. Looking up wide-eyed, she started to beg for her life. 

“P-Please. Please let me go!” She started to cry. She felt his large hand grab hold of a chunk of her hair, and when it pulled her upward, she stumbled to her feet. The man held up his boomerang. He gave her a patronizing smile and whispered words of mock comfort.

“Now now. It’ll all be over soon enough.” With one last wicked smile, he raised his boomerang and put the woman out of her misery.

 

CHAPTER ONE

Emily paused in the midst of her typing, looking away from her computer. A loud knock had startled her out of her concentration. She had been in the middle of doing a personal blogging post, venting about some minor issues she had with her parents recently. She tried to have a civilized conversation with them about her getting her own place by next year, but it didn’t go quite as smooth as she had hoped. Despite her being twenty years old, they were ungodly paranoid. No matter how much she tried to talk them about it, convince them she was an able-minded adult and they couldn’t protect her from the world forever, they were still insistent upon being so cautious with her. Especially her mother, she was the worse of the two. But whenever Emily questioned why, her mom would simply say there was nothing to talk about; Emily would always be her little girl, she would say, and a good mother always worried.

Despite these annoyances, Emily loved both of her parents dearly. Their life wasn’t perfect, but it was home, and she was comfortable and happy.

She rose from her computer chair and ventured outside to the living room. She could hear a male voice talking to her mother. The man standing in the doorway flashed a detective badge. With a grave nod, her mother stepped back and let him enter. He looked at Emily as she entered the room, and her mother turned with a distressed look on her face. Emily started to worry.

“What’s going on?” She asked, looking back between the two of them.

“Hi, I’m Detective Rowley. I was just telling your mother that there’s been a series of murders happening around this area lately, and I had some questions to ask her. Hoping she can shed some light for us.” Emily’s mother fidgeted, playing with the necklace hanging around her neck.

“Is she a suspect?” Emily asked delicately, although she knew there was no way her mother could be involved in such a deed.

“No.” Emily relaxed slightly. “The suspects we have in mind have been at this for years, and we’ve unfortunately not been able to arrest them. We came to ask you and your mother what you two could remember.”

“Remember?” She grew concerned. “Mom, what is he talking about? What happened?” Her mother looked even more distressed, if that was possible.

“Emily, go back to your room and let me take care of this. There’s no reason for you to get involved.” She was avoiding the subject and trying to keep Emily out of the know, just as she always did. This was a huge revelation. If they had been attacked before, it would make sense why her mother would be so protective.

“Mom, I’m old enough now to know-” But her mother cut her off saying,

“Go back to your room Emily! I’ll take care of this!” Her voice rose and her gaze hardened. Emily knew nothing would come out of arguing with her, and the detective was standing by waiting. With a frustrated huff, Emily headed back towards her room. When she was out of sight, she hid against the wall of the hallway.

“I’m sorry.” She heard her mother’s suddenly soft voice. “She doesn’t remember what happened. And I want to keep it that way.”

“I understand where you’re coming from, Mrs. Berkley, but I am going to have to ask Emily questions too. Any shred of information, no matter how small, will be useful to us. We’re getting desperate to catch these guys.” His next words were spoken more gravely, “And maybe you’ve forgotten, but you and your family are in great danger until we catch them.”

Danger? Emily’s stomach clenched. What kind of danger were they in? They had done nothing to these people! Why would they come after her family? Her thoughts were cut short by her mother’s hissing voice.

“It’s been seventeen years though.” Her mother protested. “Why would they come back now, after all this time?”

“There could be a number of reasons.” Detective Rowley explained in a gruff whisper. “Unfinished business. They wanna make sure they don’t get caught. It’s possible they’ve been looking all this time and finally had a breakthrough.”

She heard her mother suck in a deep gulp of air, and when she spoke a minute later, her voice sounded thick with tears. “Are they going to hurt my baby?” Emily felt her heart skip a beat.

“I don’t believe their intent is to harm your daughter, Mrs. Berkley. You said she was found in their care, correct?” There was a moment of silence, but her mother must have nodded, since he continued. “If they had wanted to hurt her, I’m sure they would have while you were there. They’ve shown time and time again they don’t care who they kill in pursuit of their victims. So why was she unhurt? Either way, you two are the one’s that got away, and that’s why they’re looking for you.”

Emily clutched the wall for support, hardly able to breath. Wait a minute, what?! She was found in the hands of these murderers that the cops were investigating now? And her mother had been there? Was she threatened by them, hurt by them? Her breath was coming in painful gasps. Why had she never been told her this?

“Why was she there though?” Emily’s mother was half hysterical. Emily could just imagine her wringing her hands together as she spoke. “She was just a little girl, and they were doing such horrible things in front of her!” Emily decided she had heard enough and stepped back out into the plain sight, startling both adults. She was shocked, to learn that her mother had been a victim of a crime, and that she, Emily, had been there while it happened. And now her mother might not even be her mother?

“I want to know what’s going on. Right now.” Her voice was angry and forceful, and she could feel hot tears welling behind her eyes. She looked at her mom. “Tell me what happened. Everything. You…you found me with these killers?”

“Emily, what are you doing here? I told you to back to your room-“

“Stop hiding the truth from me, mom!!” Emily shouted, sending her mother a step back out of astonishment. “If our lives really are in danger, I need to know everything. I’m not a little girl anymore. You can’t keep me in the dark and expect everything to be okay.” Tears were building at the corners of Emily’s eyes, but she tried to remain strong.

A heavy tension hung in the air. Her mother was clearly struggling, wrenching her necklace tightly in her sweaty hands. The detective stood by quietly, undecided whether to step forth and say anything or let them figure this out themselves. While the silence continued and go more awkward, he decided to intervene.

“Mrs. Berkley,” He started off, softly. “Your daughter’s right. She needs to know so she can prepare herself, in case something happens. We need to know everything, no matter how-” he paused here, as if picking his words with care, “unpleasant it may be to you. Or these murders are going to keep happening, and they’re going to get one step closer to you.”

Emily’s mother struggled with her tears. After sucking in some breaths, and trying to ready herself, she looked at Emily with the most conflicted expression. It was miserable with guilt, pain, and sorrow.

“I’m sorry I never told you sweetheart. I was just trying to protect you.” Emily's mother broke down, and sobbed bitterly. "A-And I just wanted to forget that day had ever happened." She buried her face in her hands. Emily walked swiftly over and put her arms around her mother. 

"Please tell me what happened." Emily asked, her face pressed to her mother's shoulder. Detective Rowley coughed slightly and stepped forward.

"I can fill you in on the details," he paused here and inclined his head toward Emily's mother. "If that's okay with you ma'am." She gave a weak nod. Detective Rowley mirrored her nod and began to explain in an even tone all that had happened on that fateful night.

Emily's mother and the man she had been having an affair with, had been walking home when they were ambushed by five people, the murderous gang for whom the detective was searching. They surrounded the couple, attempting to cut off any escape routes. Fortunately for her mother, they were smarter than the murderers had expected. The man managed to make a break for it. Three members of the gang gave chase. 

Alone with only two of the men, her mother had spotted Emily standing slightly off to the left of the smaller of the two. There was shouting from somewhere close, and both men's attention was off her mother for a quick moment. She saw her chance and took it. Running forward, she picked up Emily and held her to her chest. Then she ran for her life. She could hear them running behind her, but she persisted. Once she was a couple of blocks away, Emily had started to whine and struggle but her mother did not stop until she had made it to the motorway, where she stopped a passing car, begging for help. The couple in the car took her to the local police station, where she gave a full account of everything she had been through. 

A perfunctory search had been made for Emily's real parents, with no success. Given her mother's testimony, it seemed obvious she was connected to the killers, but there was no hard proof to back that up. She never once let Emily out of her sight, even when the young girl had begun to cry in earnest. She had returned home to her husband and convinced him to help her raise this child as their own.

When his explanation was finished, Emily stood staring in disbelief at her now calm mother. How could she have kept all of this from her for so long?

"So." Emily paused to gather her thoughts from her shattered mind, "So, these murderers. They are my family?" Seeing the grief stricken look on her mother’s face, she corrected herself saying, "My biological family?”

Detective Rowley shook his head. "I'm sorry, but we don't really know. We can't even be sure that they really are your biological relatives, but it's a possibility we have to look into." He gave her a searching look, then asked, "Do you remember anything from that night? Anything at all?" 

Emily closed her eyes and thought hard; she strained to remember. She had felt something shift in her mind when he had explained what happened, but she was grasping at straws. She could see vague images and shapes when she tried to remember that day, but nothing she could usefully describe. She released her held breathe.

"I'm sorry," She said weakly, "but I can't remember anything." Detective Rowley looked disappointed. 

"Well, I guess- if you can think of anything, call me." He reached into an inner pocket and pulled out a business card. Emily took the card with a quiet "I will." With a nod to both woman, he walked swiftly out of the house, pulling the door closed behind him. The room was still for a moment. Then Emily fled the room, leaving her shell-shocked mother alone. 

Emily pulled her bedroom door shut behind her and flung herself down on her bed. She finally let everything she had found out tonight wash over her, and she cried. Cried until she was spent. 

When she was done feeling sorry for herself, she sat up. She wanted to do something proactive. If her parents were in danger because of her, she wanted to help find these killers before they hurt anyone else. What would happen if they found her? Detective Rowley had said that they didn’t seem to want to hurt her, but what if that wasn’t true? She could die. Her parents could die. There had to be a way she could help. She thought for a long time, watching the room grow dark as the sun descended. Finally, she had a plan, but the question was, would her mother let her go through with it? 

She walked around the house looking for her mom, and found her in the kitchen washing dishes. Without a word, Emily stepped up next to her, grabbed a towel and began drying the clean dishes. She waited patiently until the last dish had been dried and put away, before approaching the subject.

“So, mom. I was thinking. I would like to help Detective Rowley. And I thought of a way to do that. But it would be kind of dangerous.” She waited, but received no response. She gathered herself and finished, “I’m going to offer myself as bait.” 

Her mother stilled. She just stood there, not saying a word or looking in Emily’s direction. Then tension was thick. It pushed Emily’s already stretched nerves to the breaking point and she cried out, “Mom, say something!”

Finally, she turned her head to look at her daughter. Emily’s heart plummeted at the way her mom looked. Her shoulders drooped, she looked sickly and her face was heavy with misery. Her eyes looked like glass, and her emotion was inscrutable. Right as Emily was about to urge her again to speak, her mother’s numb voice disturbed the silence.

“You think I would allow you to do such a thing?” Despite her even tone, it was clearly undercoated with maternal distress. “To put yourself in the line of fire and let those... those monsters take you away?” She spoke more high-pitched, and tears began to collect behind her eyes again. 

“Emily, your father and I have spent all these years doing everything we can to keep you safe from them! And now you want to go put yourself in harms way? Why? Why?!!” She grabbed Emily’s shoulders at this point and cried as she brokenly tried to extract answers from her frazzled daughter. Said daughter let her have her say, and allowed her a moment of loud sobbing before she gingerly embraced her mother and spoke to her in a gentle, but unrelenting tone. 

“We’re already in harms way, mom. They’re going to come for us, regardless if I stay here hiding or get out there and try to do something about it.” She pulled back to look into her mother’s heartbroken eyes. It nearly ripped her in half. But she persevered. “I need to know the truth about my past. I need to know why I was with these murderers when they took you hostage. Regardless of who my biological family is, you and dad are my real family. And I’m not gonna stand idly by and let them hurt you!” 

Her mom choked on a sob, her eyes were becoming red from crying. “Emily...this isn’t your responsibility. I was the idiot who was out having an affair, it was my fault I got cornered. But if I wasn’t there, who knows what would have happened to you. You were just a baby, and yet they had you there with them as if it was... no big deal for a child to witness such horrible things.”

“And I could never tell you how grateful I am that you took me in.” Emily interrupted softly. “I love you and I always will. But I have to do this, regardless if you approve or not. You and Dad have done everything you can. Now it’s my turn.” The two embraced each other then tightly, holding on as if they might never see each other again. Her mother continued to sob, and Emily felt tears return back to her own eyes. They cried without concern, standing there in the kitchen for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, they drew apart reluctantly, and Emily saw her mother to her bedroom before she returned to her own. She heard the front door unlock and open some time later, and breathed in relief as she heard her father’s voice. 

She had no idea if he was aware of what happened. And while part of her felt it was her duty to go out there and talk to him with her mother, she felt far too drained to make the effort. She decided to take some sleep aid and head to bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long, hard day, and she was going to need every bit of shut-eye she could get.

\---

Somewhere else, under the dark sky glittering with stars, a calamity was taking place. It was a peaceful looking night in the more rural part of the state, and would have been tranquil had it not been for the bloodshed that had just occurred.

Bodies littered the ground in a messy fashion, yet it was almost as if it was strategically planned that way. A chaotic art display. Blood soaked the grass and the flesh of the its victims, eyes were frozen wide in horror and fear as their lives had been taken mercilessly and without warning. 

The culprits of this horrendous crime stood close by, admiring their work. Blood spatters covered their clothing and faces, and their devilish smiles looked even more sickening shining under the moonlight, contrasted by the crimson red on their skin. They held their weapons idly, silver and red gleaming besides them. 

“Those screams never get old.” The taller of the two men said. His companion looked up at him, vibrant blue eyes radiating with joy and agreement. 

“Another job well done, huh?” He tilted his head as he observed the scene, looking as gleeful as a little kid who just won a game. He felt an arm wrap around him in response, holding him close. The taller man buried his face in the other’s hair, nose sharply breathing in the scent mixed with blood. 

“We’re getting closer.” His accented voice purred, and the other chuckled in delight. He reached up to curl a slender hand around the muscular arm cuddling him, exhaling in relief. 

“I can’t wait... it’s been so long since...” His voice faltered, as he became choked up by mixed emotions. The arm around him squeezed in reassurance.

“I know love.” The gruff voice of his partner assured him. “But tomorrow that all changes. We’ll get what’s rightfully ours.”

The shorter male snuggled into the embrace, staring at the horrible scene in front of him with a docile smile on his face. Yes, tomorrow everything would change. They would finally finish what they started and make things right. 

Whoever said revenge was a dish best served cold, knew him all too well. 

\---

Early the next day, Emily nervously made her way to the police station. The lovely sunshine and blue sky did little to soothe her jitters, but she was determined. She heard no commotion from her parents room before she went to sleep, so it was unclear what her mother and father had discussed. They were still in bed when she left, so obviously there had to be some discussion for her father to call in sick to work.

She gulped in a big breath as she opened the door to the police station. After going through the routine metal detector test, she was escorted to Detective Rowley’s office. He permitted entrance after the officer knocked, and opened the door to let her in. She thanked him before stepping further into the room, waiting for the detective to finish his paperwork before making another move. He looked up a minute later, stood, and moved forward to greet her.

“Thank you for coming Emily. I appreciate it.” He shook her hand and gestured for her to sit. Her stomach was doing flip flops, but on the outside she looked well composed. He sat in his desk and offered her something to drink, which she politely declined.

“You mentioned on the phone you wanted to try and be of service. What’d you have in mind?” He asked her. 

Emily took a deep breath, readying herself. She was beginning to feel light-headed from how fast her heart was racing. “I want to help in any way I can. But first, I need you to tell me everything about this case. And I mean everything.” She greatly emphasized that last word, looking directly into his eyes. Hazel stared back steadily as he slowly nodded in understanding. He then began to explain.

“We’ve been after these guys since before you were born.” He then pulled out a file and described the first case that seemed to be done by these very killers they were searching for. “We don’t know how many there are, but it seems to be some kind of cult. Could be anywhere from a dozen to thirty members, our calculations tell us. Mostly male-dominated, but at least one woman is involved, we’re sure of. Most of their victims were convicted offenders; pedophiles, rapists, attackers who preyed on children. But as the years went on they started expanding their target group, to petty thieves, people who committed minor offenses. And then eventually to people who weren’t in trouble with the law, but were doing something “wrong” in their eyes. Negligent parenting, or in your mother’s situation... adultery.” He paused as he finished that sentence, trying to be easy about this new upcoming explanation. 

Emily said nothing at the mention of her mother’s past, and just urged Detective Rowley to continue. “So how come no one has been able to catch them? Any of them?” 

Rowley’s face hardened, his frustration clearly evident. “They’re good. So good it makes me sick.” His lips tightened until they were two thin lines before he could regain his composure. “They don’t leave behind evidence. No fingerprints, no DNA, no paper trail. When we try to follow them on foot, the pathway... stops after a while. It’s as if they just disappear and come back somewhere else. They’re like magicians.”

“But even magicians would have to leave some kind of trail. Some kind of evidence. Right?” Emily asked, perplexed.

Rowley was quiet a moment, wishing he had a better answer than what he was about to give. “I wish I could explain more. But we’ve got nothing. And that’s why they keep getting away with murdering people.”

Emily decided it was time to ask what she really wanted to know. “Tell me about the night my mother found me.”

“Everything I told you yesterday is the extent of what we know. Your mother and the man she was involved with were ambushed by five of them, two of whom seem to be the ‘leaders’. She didn’t see you until they took her to, what we presume to be, their hunting grounds. The man got away, they were distracted for a moment, she took her chance, grabbed you and ran like hell. We don’t know why you were there. It’s possible you were just a passerby,” He stopped for a moment as Emily’s breath hitched. “Or they had alternative motives in mind. You weren’t hurt though, so chances are slim they were planning to kill you.” He looked off to the side for a moment, questions flickering in his eyes. “We have no documentation of your real identity, so you were considered a ward of the state. Your mother saved you and wanted to raise you, no one saw reason to stop her from taking you in.” 

“What I was doing there though?” Emily’s voice became more beggar-like. Why couldn’t anyone tell her why she was there?

The detective frowned frustratedly. “We don’t know.” Emily wanted to growl, she was getting very irritated by “I don’t know.” 

“Your mom says when she saw you, you were just standing there. Not too far from one of the men. My theory is they brought you along to watch what they were doing.”

“To make me become like them?” 

“Possibly, yes.” Rowley’s shoulders tensed before he sighed, his face relaxing to show many years of stress from his job. “Now that I’ve told you everything, tell me what you’ve been thinking about.”

Emily paused, composing herself to make herself look calm and confident, or as much as she could in this nightmare-ish situation. “I’m here to offer myself as bait.”

Detective Rowley blinked before his features scrunched up disbelief. “Excuse me?”

“These people are going to come after my mother and I. If they get to her, they’re going to kill her and my father. If we can get to them first, then maybe no one will get hurt. And you’ll get to finally arrest them.” Emily said, surprisingly smoothly.

“How do you propose offering yourself as bait to help, though?”

“They had me there for whatever reason. If I see them and talk to them, then maybe-”

“There’s no talking or reasoning with these guys Emily.” Rowley interrupted her. “They will kill whoever gets in their way, that’s a fact. Reason doesn’t apply to them.”

“I realize this.” She said, not bothering to hide her agitation. “But I’m not going to just sit by and let them hunt my parents down! I’ll do whatever it takes. Just tell me!” Tears began form in the corners of her eyes but she restrained herself. She had to be strong. 

Detective Rowley sat back in his chair, breathing in deeply through his nostrils as the new offered plan of action rolled around in his head. He contemplated for a few minutes, then looked at Emily and leaned forward on his desk, propped on his elbows. 

“There might be a way you can help. But it’ll be dangerous.” He warned her.

“This whole situation is already dangerous. No point in stopping now.” Emily shrugged, internally a bit shaken by the possibly reality that could follow from what he had to say. He nodded, and began to tell her what he had in mind.


	2. Things Go According to Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally getting into the good stuff! 
> 
> Again, many thanks to my wonderful co-author Maneshi, who posted this on fanfiction.net a few hours ago.

Twelve hours later Emily found herself sitting in a car outside of a dingy highway diner off the interstate. If everything went as planned she would have her answers within the hour. Her stomach clenched with anxiety. What she wouldn’t give to just go home and forget any of this had ever happened. But she was determined to go through with this. It was the only way she could ensure her parents safety. 

The diner, Detective Rowley had assured her, was the frequent haunt of one of the men suspected to be connected to the murderous cult. She had been given a description, and told to watch and wait for him to show, which he usually did around this time. The idea had been to let him get a glimpse of her, have her “let slip” to a waitress that she had run away and that she would be staying in a local motel. Rowley would be waiting for her there and, if all went as planned, the man would follow her there, and Rowley would make the arrest. Hopefully this man would lead them to the others. Emily closed her eyes for a moment, trying to stifle the rising feeling of panic welling in her chest. If the man didn’t show up soon, she would scream. 

Four tense minutes went by, then Emily watched as an old, black, well kept station wagon pulled into parking lot. There, that was him. Unnaturally tall and thin, slicked back black hair, a hooked nose and sharp chin, he looked like a raven in a suit. He was far too well dressed for this diner, but he was obviously a regular by the way the waitress greeted him when he sat on a stool up at the bar. Emily knew her moment had come. 

She got out of the car as gracefully as she could. Her heart was pounding so hard against her chest she thought it might burst. She tried to walk at a normal pace when all her instincts said to run in the opposite direction. She had decided while she had been waiting that she would sit up at the bar, making her visible to the whole diner. Sliding onto the stool, she shot a glance up and down the bar. The man was three stools away, bent over a newspaper, and sipping a coffee. Emily needed to get the waitress interested in talking. So she took a deep, audible breath (hoping she wasn’t overdoing it) and buried her face in her hands on the exhale. It worked. The plump, blonde waitress bustled over and leaned forward on the bar.

“You okay hun? You don’t look so good.” Emily looked up at the waitress, hoping that her expression conveyed deep dejection, rather than over played melodrama. 

“No, I’m not okay...” She said, dropping her head and following with another deep sigh. She paused, then looked up at the waitress again, this time with a conspiratorial look on her face. “Can you keep a secret?” The woman nodded her head vigorously, obviously enjoying being told other people’s business. She must be one hell of a gossiper, Emily thought, but all she said was “I ran away from home. My parents always treat me like a child, and I’m sick of it.” The waitress tried (and failed) to keep the look of glee off her face.

“Oh you poor thing!” She said with an unconvincing affectation of sympathy. “You poor, poor thing. Why don’t I bring you a coffee, and you can tell me all about it!” Barely hiding her snide grin, she bustled back over to the coffee pot and poured a large cup of black coffee. Pausing, she turned to the man and said,

“Can I fill up your coffee Mr. Pitchiner?” She grinned at him and proffered the pot. The man pushed his cup forward and mumbled a soft thank you. The waitress replaced the coffee pot on its burner, turned to Emily and asked if she wanted cream or sugar.

“Both please.” Emily replied. She was no great fan of coffee, but she needed the waitress to ask the right questions. When the mud like substance was placed in front of her, she took a sip and suppressed a shudder. Fixing a smile on her face, she looked back up into the eager face of a waitress. 

“Thank you very much.” Emily said. Taking a hint from the expectant look on the waitress’s face, Emily put on her best “hard done by” expression and said, “Yesterday was the last straw. Someone came to the door, and when I went into the living room to see what was happening, she shrieked at me and drove me out, saying I was only a child and I shouldn’t interfere with adult matters.” Emily hated lying, and hated saying bad (if untrue) things about her mother. The waitress was waiting impatiently, clearly lapping up the fresh gossip. Emily took a deep breath and continued, “So I took the car, and am going to San Francisco. For tonight though, I’m staying at the Red Creek motel, a couple miles back. It’s nice, I’ve got a first floor room, so lugging my stuff in wasn’t so bad. Plus, my mom would be furious if she knew where I was.” Emily faked a grin. The waitress grinned back and said,

“Oh you poor dear. All alone in the world. Well, that coffee’s on the house. You just sit there as long as you need and you tell little ol’ me if there’s anything else I can get for you.” The waitress patted Emily’s thin hand with her meaty one, and went to gather up a meal from the counter to take to one of the other customer’s in the diner. Emily peaked sideways from under her hair at the man, Mr. Pitchiner the waitress had called him. She was startled to see he was staring at her. She quickly ducked her head down, and forced herself to take another sip of the dreadful coffee. She gripped the cup tightly; it was the only way to stop her hands from shaking. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the man turn towards her.

“Pardon me for the intrusion,” Emily jumped halfway out of her seat when he addressed her. She nearly fell off her stool, but he gently grabbed her elbow and steadied her until she was balanced again. She faced him, and was surprised to see a good natured smile on his face. “So sorry,” he said kindly, “I didn’t mean to frighten you. I just wanted to offer this.” He held up a 20 dollar bill. “I over heard you saying that you’re on your own for now. It’s not easy, taking care of yourself, no family to help. I know it’s not much, but at least it’ll get you a couple hot meals.” He held the 20 out to her. Slowly, Emily reached out a hand and took the proffered money. The man’s smile broadened. “I’m Kozomotis, by the way. What’s your name?” 

Emily hesitated. None of this made sense.Rowley must have suspected the wrong man. If this man were part of the cult that was after her, surely he wouldn’t be being this friendly or telling her his name. ( And what kind of name was Kozomotis?) Of course, it could be an alias, but still...

“Thank you for this.” she said tucking the twenty into the pocket of her jeans, “My name’s Emily.” For an instant she saw a look flash across his face, but the smile was back in place so quickly Emily was left wondering if she had imagined it. He reached out a hand and she shook it. 

“Well it was nice meeting you Emily.” Kozomotis said, finishing his coffee in one gulp, then standing up and stretching slightly. “But I’ve got to be going. Good luck to you.” With a half glance over his shoulder and a small wave, he headed out to his black station wagon, flipped on the headlights and drove off. Emily let out a shuddering breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding in. She turned back to her coffee and was surprised to see the waitress standing there leaning on the bar and looking at her knowingly. 

“I’ll bet you anything his number’s written on that twenty.” She said with a hearty wink. Emily pulled the bill back out of her pocket and unfolded it. There just as the waitress had said were seven digits scrawled in a tidy handwriting. Seeing this, the waitress giggled and said, “He couldn’t keep his eyes off you from the moment you walked in.” Emily was actually quite relieved. A random stranger hitting on her was something much easier to handle than a possibly murderous stranger being kind to her. She breathed easier. The waitress sighed dramatically and went on, “Isn’t he just so handsome? I love when he comes in, he’s always dressed so well.” And with that, she huffed off to wipe down tables. 

Well that was it. Rowley had said this man was their only lead, and he was clearly just a normal guy. Emily sighed, said goodnight to the waitress, and headed out to her car. She would head back to the motel, let Rowley know what happened, and head home. She started up her car, pulled out of the parking lot and sped down the highway. She pulled her car into the space designated for her room, and hopped out, feeling much more at ease than the last time she had left the car. 

Any good feelings she had felt instantly dissipated when she saw the door to her room was open. Not thinking, she rushed in. The room looked like a tornado had ripped through; the mattress had been flipped, the pictures were torn from the wall, her clothing and possessions were strewn across the floor. Emily felt her heart shoot up into her throat. Her voice came out as a squeak.

“Detective Rowley?” She called, knowing that she wouldn’t receive an answer. She checked under the mattress, then headed toward the tiny bathroom, terrified of what she might find when she got there. “Rowley, are you here?” She peaked around the bathroom door to find it had been given the same treatment as the main room. And there, scrawled across the mirror in what looked horribly like blood where the words CALL ME. 

Emily’s head swam dizzily and the ground heaved under her feet. They had killed him. The blood on the mirror was obviously Rowley’s. She felt the coffee churn in her stomach and just barely made it to the toilet in time. She coughed and sputtered until she could breath again, but that didn’t help the sick feeling in her stomach. It had gone all wrong. She was the bait. She was supposed to have been the one in danger. But now an innocent man’s blood was on the mirror and on her hands. She slumped against the wall, trying to breath as her whole body screamed with disgust and horror. She forced herself to take deep even breaths. When she had calmed down slightly, she pulled out the twenty, and her cell phone. Numbly she dialed and held the phone up to her ear. She waited with baited breath, dreading each ring, but dreading even more that someone should answer. Finally, the line picked up.

“Hello?” She said shakily. “Who’s there?” Her whole body shook as the seconds ticked by. 

“Hello?” She said again.

“Hello Cailey. It’s good to hear your voice again.” 

She froze, the phone shaking in her hand as a cheerful male spoke to her. He called her Cailey. Did they think that’s who she was? Maybe they were confusing her with the wrong girl.

“M-my name’s Emily.” The girl replied back quietly, without any confidence.

He laughed suddenly, but it sounded jagged and insincere. “Is that what they’ve been calling you?” He chuckled, the sound utterly terrifying Emily to the core. “I was expecting something more original. I’m kind of disappointed.” 

“What do you want from me?” She asked. She had no clue what else to do. The ball was in their court, and while it may have been too late for Detective Rowley, her parents were still in horrible danger.

“We want you sweetie.” He told her, as if it was plain as day. “We wanna talk to you. Alone.” He paused at that word, his tone making it clear she was not to call for any further help. Emily waited for him to continue. “We’re at 22100 Parkway Drive. The abandoned warehouse. Come now, alone, or else we’ll kill Detective Rowley before we head over to your house and kill your parents too.” He practically hissed at the word parents, and Emily couldn’t hold back her tears. She managed to speak somewhat steadily though.

“Detective Rowley’s alive?” She asked, afraid to hope, afraid he was just lying to her to get her to come out. 

“For now.” The male voice said airily. “If you don’t hurry up and get here though, I can’t promise he’ll be alive by morning.”

“How do I know he’s still alive?” She fired at him. A pause, and a second later she could hear muffled shouts. Her heart dropped and her breath got stuck in her throat. 

“Hurry up and get here.” The man told her, all cheerfulness gone from his voice. “To make sure you don’t dowdle, for every hour you take getting here, poor Rowley will lose another finger.” On cue, a loud sickening thud was heard as well as a horrible, muffled scream. Emily couldn’t stop herself from gasping, and then suddenly the line went dead. 

Without a second thought she rushed outside to her car and got herself in, taking a second to double check no one was hiding in the backseat. All was clear. She pulled out her phone and typed the address into Google maps as fast as she possibly could. Once she had directions, she started the car and hit the gas, intending to get there before the hour was up. She ended up making it in about a half hour, doing ninety on the freeway. Part of her hoped a cop would notice and go to stop her, but then his constant repeat of her coming alone kept playing in her head. She made it to the warehouse uninterrupted, and parked in the first spot she saw. 

Once she was out of the car, it wasn’t clear what she should do. Should she stay and wait, or just go ahead and go through the door? They didn’t tell her where they were inside the building, and this place was fairly big. Suddenly, there was a loud creak and her head snapped to the right, and a door was wide open. Taking in a deep breath of air, she bolted for the door and only hesitated a moment before stepping inside.

It was relatively well lit, the ominous hallways illuminated by lanterns. She made her way cautiously down the hallway, not sure of where to go and simply letting her feet lead the way. There were black, shadowy drawings on the walls consisting of arrows telling her which way to go. She ended up walking across the main floor and going down a set of stairs to the basement. Each second felt like an hour, and she was horrified that they went ahead and chopped Rowley’s hand up to pieces already. There was no way their word could be trusted, but she had to come. She had to try and save Detective Rowley and her parents.

She arrived at a dead end, no more black wall art directing her. She stood there, heart pounding against her ribcage, wondering what to do next, when suddenly white lights flashed above her and she had to shield her eyes for a minute to to keep herself from going blind. When she could see normally again, she lowered her hand and cried out,

“Detective Rowley!!”

There he was, tied a chair and gagged. His clothes were dirty and stained with blood, particularly near his left shoulder and his right hand. His face was drenched in sweat and his eyes looked dull. It was horrifying seeing him like this, when he seemed so calm and confident just hours earlier. She started running to him, when a voice halted her in her tracks.

“Woah, hold on there kiddo! First things first.” The man who she had spoken to on the phone earlier came into sight, and Emily pulled back as she got a good look at one of these infamous killers.

He look young; very young. He couldn’t have possibly been older than his early twenties, and even that was pushing it. He was thin and lanky, but tall. He wore a blue hoodie and khaki pants. His hair was a dark brown at the roots, but the rest was overcome by snowy-white shaggy strands. He had a square jaw contrasted by a very otherwise young face, and large, blue eyes. He was smiling, as if this was some long-anticipated event with friends. He was also looking at her rather intently, as if he was studying her. He took a few steps forward, one hand in his hoodie pocket while the other dangled by his side, holding something she couldn’t recognize. 

Emily stood where she was, afraid to move and afraid to speak. She was trembling, but couldn’t stop it. She stared wide-eyed at the man, waiting. 

“Well. Aren’t you gonna say hi?” He asked her, cocking his head to the side. He was making this into some kind of game. She clenched her fists. The sick motherfucker. 

“H-Hi.” Emily stuttered. “You wanted t-to talk to me?” 

“Nuh-uh.” He withdrew his hand from his hoodie and wagged a finger at her, as if she had given a wrong answer. “We wanted to talk to you.” Emily’s brow scrunched in confusion until another figure stepped into the light, his footsteps echoing loudly off the concrete floor. 

This man was taller than his accomplice, but only by a couple of inches. He was tanned and muscular, and looked like he had about ten years on his partner with a more mature face and light facial hair. But he looked young too, and while the other was smiling and beaming, this guy had a serious face as if he was concentrating on something heavily. He had light brown hair pulled back in a small ponytail, strands randomly sticking out around his face. Intense green eyes smoldered out at her from behind thick, dark eyebrows. He was wearing a white wifebeater under a black vest and green cargo pants, tucked into what she dubbed as “shit-kicker” black boots. 

He raised his hand which held a boomerang, spinning it in his palm casually. 

“‘Ello lovey.” His voice was thick and rough, and obviously of Australian heritage. “Been a long time.” The boomerang came to a halt and he clutched it, pointing at her with it. “Seventeen years to be exact.”

Emily thought. That far back would have been when her mother found her. These were the guys!

“Who... who are you?” She felt the question slip from her tongue.

“The name’s Aster.” He nodded to the shorter male. “This is Jack.” Jack cocked his head to the side as if he was a small child, and waved at her. 

“You’re the ones who had me when my mom found me.” Emily stated questioningly.

“When she took you away from us.” The shorter male corrected, his friendly face replaced by anger. “There was no finding or losing, you were right where you belonged, and that bitch took you from us!” He shouted, thrashing his hand holding the mystery weapon towards the ground. Suddenly ice formed a line from where he stood to the wall, coming up in clear, jagged crystals.

Emily took a step back and covered her hands with her mouth, the lump of fear in her stomach solidified, not believing what she just saw. He couldn’t have just created ice out of thin air. He couldn’t have!

He composed himself, bringing himself back under control and looking at Emily, ignoring her shock. The other man decided it was time for him to speak.

“That woman that you believe is your mother, is nothing but a liar.” His eyes hardened to stone. “She got damn lucky, the only reason she got away was because we underestimated her.”

“I don’t understand though. What did she do to make you two want to kill her in the first place?” Emily asked, looking imploringly at them.

“What did she do?” The one called Jack laughed. “She was out fucking another guy, because apparently your daddy wasn’t good enough for her anymore!” His face became filled with hatred, and Emily wasn’t sure if it was directed at her or her mother. “So we had to teach her a lesson.”

“By trying to kill her?” Emily injected. “Adultery doesn’t deserve death!”

“Hah!” Aster startled her by his loud, sarcastic tone. “She brain wash you with that bullshite too?” He took a step closer, pointing at her again with his boomerang. “Let me tell you somethin’ lovey. All that talk about “second chances” and “it was a mistake, please forgive me, I can do better”, is nothing but a load of hogwash! People like that are disloyal and cannot be trusted! They’re the reason that marriage is mocked at, like it’s some big joke. Because they treat it like one! Cheating whores like her don’t deserve to take up space on this Earth.”

White hot anger surged through her at the insult. Despite her fear, Emily glared at them. “My mom is not a whore.” She said through clenched teeth. 

“No, she’s not.” Aster said, suddenly calm and soft. He looked at his boomerang, running his fingers along the sharp edges. “Your real mother that is.” He looked back up to shoot a look into Emily. She felt it pierce her as if it was done by the very weapon he held. 

“You knew my biological mother?” She realized.

“We know your biological mother.” Jack corrected her. Emily’s eyes grew even larger. Her birth mother was still around? How did she know them? 

“She... She’s still alive?” Her voice faltered. “You didn’t kill her?”

“No.” Jack looked at the girl as if she just asked a dumb question. “Why would we do something like that?”

Before she could stop herself, a retort fell off her lips. “Because you’re serial killers who like to hurt people?” 

Jack smirked, but his eyebrows knitted together in a frown. “You better watch your tone missy.” He walked lazily over to Detective Rowley who had remained quiet through this exchange. With a mad grin, Jack grabbed a handful of his hair and jerked his head back, startling a yelp out of the man. “Or else I might get mad.” He picked up a scalpel from the small table next to Rowley and pressed the blade against the bound man’s throat. “And slip up.” He pressed down just hard enough to draw some blood. 

Emily tensed up, putting her hands up. “Okay, please don’t! I’m sorry!” She pleaded. “I just... I thought you killed my biological family. And that’s why I was with you when my... other mother took me.” Her adrenaline skyrocketed as she waited, feeling like she was going to pass out right then and there. Slowly, Jack pulled the blade away from Rowley’s throat and released him, walking forward. He never took his eyes off her. She couldn’t figure out what he was thinking, he looked serious, like a blank slate.

“You don’t remember anything?” He whispered. At her confused look, he went on. “From that night, before she took you away?”

Another hopeless rack at her brain provided nothing, and she was worried he was going to be dissatisfied with her answer and kill Detective Rowley. “No... I can’t remember anything from that night.”

Jack looked heartbroken at this confession, and his eyes dropped. Aster looked at him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t do that Jack.” His voice was strict, but not harsh. “You can’t expect a three year old to remember.” The shorter male breathed deeply, struggling with himself. When he spoke, his tone was quieter and sounded pained.

“I know... I just hoped she would...” He wasn’t making sense. What was she supposed to remember? The hand on his shoulder squeezed reassuringly before giving him a loud slap on the back, startling him.

“Buck up ya sad sack, that was then and this is now. We can fix things now.” At this, Jack nodded and his face hardened with determination. Emily looked between the two, her alarm growing with each second as she became more and more puzzled. 

“I don’t understand.” Her voice was soft, pleading. Some shred of attempt to hopefully reason with them. “What do you two want from me?”

Jack looked at her for a minute, not blinking, before speaking. “We’re taking you home. Where you belong.”

“Home?” The word felt foreign on her lips. “Where’s home?” They couldn’t possibly be taking her to her biological family, could they?

“With us.” Aster said. Emily shook her head.

“But... why? Why would you wanna take me with you? What about my biological mother?”

“She’ll be there too.” Aster told her. “Well, not literally in the same house, but she’ll be close by. She’s missed you terribly.” Emily felt her iratness rising again.

“But why do you want to take me with you? That doesn’t make any sense!”

“What do you mean it doesn’t make any sense?!” Jack shouted, looking agitated. “It’s plain and simple. We’re taking you home where you belong! With your real family!”

“How do you even know my real family though? Are they just like you? Is that why you’re here? You’re doing them some kind of favor or something?” Emily finally snapped. 

The two stood still, surprised. They slowly turned to look at each other, and then they started to laugh. Emily was furious that they were laughing at her. And as their shoulders shook and menacing snickers echoed throughout the room, she just looked at them; angry and scared and confused. She kept glancing at Detective Rowley, who was silently struggling to try and break free from his bindings. He looked just as unnerved and perplexed. 

When they finally settled down, Aster looked up at her, his face looking disturbing despite his obvious amusement. “Ya don’t get it lovey.” Whether it was planned or not, Jack spoke up then, his eyes widening for dramatic effect before he spoke, slowly as if to make sure she understood. 

“How do we know your real family?” He leaned forward, speaking with great delight. “Because we are your real family!” 

Emily’s jaw dropped. Her ears couldn’t believe what they were telling her. The possibility that she was related to the murderers had crossed her mind, but she was shocked all the same. But to see them, in person, and hear it from their own mouths... it just couldn’t be. 

“W... What?” Emily wasn’t even aware she had spoken.

“We” Jack gestured to Aster and himself. “are. your real. family.” He theatrically gestured with each arm, as if to get the point in even deeper. 

Emily wasn’t sure what to say. So many thoughts raced through her mind, all clamoring for her attention. She balled her fists into her jacket, clenching the fabric into her fingers as if it would magically make this whole horrible situation disappear, and Detective Rowley would be back home, unharmed. 

“Still don’t believe?” She looked up, to see Jack with a raised eyebrow. “I mean, hello, it’s kind of obvious.” He gestured to himself. “Who do you think you got your good looks from?” The minute he said that, she began mentally comparing pictures of him and her, side by side. There were some clear resemblances, but it didn’t strike her as so obvious the minute she saw him to realize who they were.

“So.. what are we then? Brother and sister?” She asked. He grinned.

“I’m humbled you think I look that young.” He straightened himself up even more, looking onward with a sense of pride. “I’m your dad. And Aster here is your other father.” Aster smirked at that.

Emily spluttered. “There’s no way you can be my dad! You look the same age as me!”

“Don’t feel bad darling, this youthful beauty fools everyone.” He waved his hand, as if thanking some grand audience. “I am much, much older than I look. So is Aster here. He’s ancient.” Said man whipped his hand at his smaller partner, eyes narrowing. “Shut yer bloody mouth, ya damn show pony” Jack simply laughed and danced a few steps away from the hand before turning his attention back to their bewildered daughter. 

Laughing. They thought this was all just a joke. She felt the terror boil away and the anger take hold. She just couldn’t take all of this in, so her mind focused on an escape plan. She knew that Rowley was much too heavy for her slight frame to carry. She needed a plan, and she had only moments to think of something. Keep them talking, her mind supplied. 

"How did you find me?" She heard herself ask. "Have you known where I was all these years? Why didn't you come for me before now?" She was only dimly aware of the the angry expressions which her questions had placed on the faces of the two men before her. She thanked god that they had chosen to keep a ten foot gap between them and herself, because it hid the darting movements of her eyes as she looked for an escape route. It was then that she noticed it, Rowley's gun. They had set it on the small table sitting between Rowley and herself, from which Jack had gotten a scalpel and held a number of other unpleasant looking steel instruments. She hadn't been listening to their explanations, but they must have said something she was supposed to react to, so on the pretext of confusion on her part, she took an unsteady step towards the table and clutched her head. She was close enough now. 

She knew this was going to hurt. 

Aiming her outstretched arm toward the table and the gun, she rolled her eyes back in her head, and fell back in the perfect impression of a dead faint. She heard a satisfying clatter as the gun hit the ground next to the fingertips of her right hand. The men's footsteps echoed as they came rushing forward. Waiting until they were only feet away, Emily grabbed the gun and sprang to her feet, it's muzzle pressed tight under her chin. Both men stopped, eyes wide, hands raised. For a long moment no one moved or spoke. The moment seemed to last hours. The hand that Emily was using to hold the gun was shaking slightly. 

Jack finally broke the silence, speaking slowly. “Cailey.... what are you doing?” 

“My name. is. Emily.” She spoke through gritted teeth. Jack’s eyes turned hard, and he snapped. “I told you! That’s what that whore and her man called you-” He started to walk forward, so Emily gripped the gun even more tightly, jabbing it against her chin.

“Don’t you take one more step closer!” Her grip around the gun became like a vice. “Let Detective Rowley go. Right now! Or else I’ll blow my brains out all over this floor!” She prayed to God that this would work. If they had any intent of killing her anyway, then this would be useless.

Jack looked a little panicked now, but Bunny just chuckled and scoffed at her. “Oh please, I bet ya don’t even know how to handle that-”

Keeping her eyes on them, she quickly brought one hand off the gun to cock it, readying it to fire. She had never been more grateful before this moment that her parents had made her practice shooting guns and learn how to use them.

Bunny’s final words stopped as she proved she was capable of handling the weapon. His look became irritated, while Jack started to look more worried. They glanced at one another. They both took a step back and looked at her expectantly.

“Y-You’re going to let Rowley go.” Emily said, her voice shaking but her hand steady. “You’re going to let him go free, and you aren’t going to hurt my parents. Do you understand?” She watched as the two men shared a look of irritation. Then suddenly Jack grinned. 

“Okay.” He said abruptly in a cheerful voice. He took three strides over to Detective Rowley, and began to untie his hands. Emily saw her own disbelief mirrored on his face. When he was free, Rowley turned to Emily, taking a step forward. Quick as a flash Jack had a knife to Rowley’s neck. 

“Now now, you behave and leave quietly.” Jack gestured to the large bay door opposite the one through which Emily had entered. Rowley gave Emily one last, desperate look, then headed in the direction he was told. The sound of the door closing echoed loudly throughout the otherwise quiet room. 

Now Emily was alone with the two murderers. 

They both took a step forward, Jack’s chipper facade looking less genuine.. “All right. We fulfilled our end of the deal. Now hand over that gun before you hurt yourself.” He talked to her as if he was scolding a child for having a temper tantrum. 

Emily hesitated pulling the gun away from her face. She wanted to shoot the bastards, but she was worried. She was worried she would miss, or that the bullets wouldn’t kill them. That stunt with the ice earlier... that was proof they weren’t ordinary people. A regular human couldn’t have done that. She tried to reason it had to be some kind of magic trick, but it had seemed so real. 

Before Emily could change her mind, Aster sped over to her at an abnormal speed and swiped the gun out of her hand. Emily didn’t even have time to comprehend what just happened. There was definitely no way these guys were human. They were like walking science experiments gone wrong. And now she was alone with them. Vulnerable and unprotected and defenseless. But at least Rowley was safe now. 

Emily stood stock still, waiting for the stroke to fall. She had no idea what they had planned for her. But she knew it couldn’t be anything good. 

Aster had returned to Jack’s side, emptying the gun of its bullets before tossing it carelessly aside. He hated the bloody things, he found them such a cliche weapon and it was too easy for anyone to cause damage with them. 

Suddenly, Jack burst out laughing as if he had been holding it in. Aster looked at him, and whatever his eyes told him, he understood because he started chuckling deviously too. These two were batshit insane, Emily thought, and their constant teeter between maniacal laughter and stoic staredowns was grinding her already shattered nerves down into dust. While at the same time pissing her off in ways she never experienced before. 

“What’s so damn funny?!” She demanded. Jack appeared to be wiping a tear from his eye, and gave her a great big smile all shining white teeth. 

“Okay Pitch... you can come out of hiding now.” With that said, out from the shadows emerged two figures. It took a couple minutes before they were in enough light for her to see, but Emily felt herself shout. There was Rowley, using whatever fight was left in him to thrash against the tall, thin dark figure holding him captive. That same figure who smiled at her just a few hours prior and offered her money with that dreaded phone number written on the back.

“Hello Emily.” Pitch purred, his voice full of perfected charm. This same man, who she had presumed as normal and decent, was suddenly gripping Rowley with a painfully tight grip, and he had the smuggest damn look on his face. His flirtatious tone pissed Jack and Aster off, and they both glared murderously at him from where they stood. 

“I told you not to call her that!” Jack hissed at Pitch, although that wasn’t the only thing that pissed him off. Pitch flashed a toothy smile at Jack.

“Oh, no, there’s no need to thank me. Honestly Jack, I only tracked down your missing daughter, tricked her into coming here and cleaned up the mess after that whole gun incident.” Pitch’s voice dripped with sarcasm. As much as she hated him, Emily was honestly impressed that he would say such a thing with the two men glaring so hatefully. She watched as Pitch rolled his eyes at them. 

“I am sorry Emily dear, but I owe them a favor, so-” And with a swift jerk, Pitch snapped Rowley’s neck. 

Emily watched in horror as Rowley’s body hit the floor. She felt a shriek building in her chest and when she could contain it no more, it exploded out, tearing at her throat. She felt herself keep screaming but everything felt disconnected as she stared at Rowley’s lifeless form. Phrases formed in her screams, though she put no conscious thought into what was said. Distantly she heard the men speaking, practically shouting to make themselves heard, but her whole world had narrowed. Her whole world was the man lying dead because of her. She barely noticed when a fourth man came into view. Then suddenly her world went dark. And she slept.


	3. Getting to Know You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Aster try to make their daughter feel right at home, but Emily has other plans in mind.

When Emily woke up, she didn't open her eyes. Instead she just lay there, breathing deeply, and feeling where she was. She was lying on a bed, with a cool cloth placed on her head. She could feel that there was someone next to her. She opened her eyes just a slit, and saw a pair of khaki pants, sitting next to her.

"Daddy?" She breathed. A hand reached out and stroked her hair gently. Relief washed over her.

"Oh thank god... Dad, I had the most horrible nightmare."

"It's over now honey, you're safe." Emily's eyes flew open, and she bolted upright. Because the voice was wrong; that voice was horribly wrong. She jumped out of the baby pink bed and stared around the room in shock. She stumbled and backed into a corner, looking at the owner of the voice. Jack was sitting in a chair next to her bed, staring at her with a quizzical expression.

"Where am I?" Looking down she noticed she was wearing a thick cotton nightgown, a lurid pink. Looking around, she noticed the rest of the room was from the same pallet. A pale, sickly shade of pink. It was designed more for a young girl, with frilly bed sheets and stuffed animals neatly organized on shelves. 

“Just take it easy Cailey.” Jack put his hands up, in attempt to show her he meant no harm. He got up off the chair and eased his way around the bed. “We’re not gonna hurt you.” Backing herself farther into the corner, Emily shouted, 

“You’re a liar!! You let that man kill Detective Rowley. And now-” Her rage became dominated by terror and she found herself whimpering. “Now you’re going to kill me too.”

“Shh, no we’re not.” Jack approached her after what seemed like a long time, and gently took hold of her arms. “We wouldn’t bring you here if we wanted to kill you. You’re our baby. We’ve missed you.” He ran his hand down her cheek, seeming to enjoy the feel of her skin. His smile saddened a little when Emily continued to quake. With a sigh, he coaxed her out of the corner, leading her to sit on the bed. When he sat down next to her, she tensed and scooted away. He frowned deeply. Emily waited for him to yell, but he seemed to decide to leave it be this time. 

“Where am I?” Emily asked again, more softly.

“You’re home.” Jack’s lips curled at the corners. 

“Your home?” She asked, though it was an asinine question.

“Yes. And now it’s your home too.” That sent chills through the girl. 

“Where are we though? Are we in a different city, or a different state?”

“You’ll learn that in due time.” Jack replied, demeanor still kind but stricter. “This is home from now on. Where you should have been from the start.” Oh God, Emily thought, he was about to go on another rant about her parents. But he didn’t. The thought suddenly struck her. Her parents! She hadn’t talked to them since before she left for the diner!

“You....You killed my parents... didn’t you?” 

“I told you. They’re not your parents. We are.” His features contorted into a sneer. “You will not refer to them as parents anymore, do you understand that?”

Emily wanted to tell him to go to hell, but that wasn’t going to make things any better. So she forced herself to nod her head. 

“And we didn’t kill them. As much as I would have liked to.” Despite his displeasure at that unsettling sounding statement, Emily let herself breath in relief. So they were still alive. Thank God. Jack patted her on the knee.   
"Now," he took a deep breath and continued, "try and remember that this isn't a prison. We aren't your wardens, we're your family." He laughed at his own joke. "As long as you behave, follow the rules, you'll have a reasonable amount of freedom. So long as we can trust you, you'll be a fully functioning member of this household." He paused here, and Emily watched as his cheery face suddenly grew dark. "Break that trust, and you'll find that retribution will be swift."   
Emily shuddered. She didn't want to imagine what these people defined as retribution. She let a silent minute pass.   
"So, what are the rules?" She asked hesitantly.   
"Oh they're simple enough." Jack said with the smile back on his face. "Obey your superiors. Don't endanger our family. And do not attempt to contact anyone from your old life.” He shot her a piercing look. Emily nodded fervently, bringing a smile back to Jack’s face. 

“Good. And always remember,” Jack said, leaning forward and planting a kiss on Emily’s forehead. “We’re your family and we love you very much.” He flashed her a brilliantly white smile, and sauntered out of the room. 

Emily let herself slump back onto the bed. She hadn’t realised how tense she had felt with him in the room until he had left. Well, she thought to herself, as far as psychopaths go, he didn’t seem half bad. Maybe I can reason with him. The image of Rowley’s limp form falling to the ground flashed across her mind, and she swallowed hard. No, she told herself firmly, they are evil. Do not let this act persuade you otherwise. So first things first, figure out an escape plan. Picking herself up off the bed, she walked across to the window. She peered down and was disappointed to discover she was on the second floor. Not a bad distance to jump, she thought. But on closer inspection, she noticed two large rose bushes, cold, barren and thorny. One drop into those and she’d be lucky to hop back out with everything intact. 

Well that was Plan A out the window. She drew away from the window, and examined the room again. Just the one window and one door. With a heavy sigh, she knew she would have to take the hard way out. She began formulating a plan in her head, at one point finding herself sitting back on the bed, holding her head in her hands as if it was a great weight placed upon her shoulders. She became so lost in her thoughts she didn’t hear Jack enter the room again.

He tiptoed up behind her, leaning in closely and after only seconds of pausing, a soft “Boo!” was whispered into her ear. She jumped in her seat, a startled yelp shooting out of her throat. Jack laughed. She glared at him furiously. 

“Aww, I was just teasing pumpkin. Lighten up!” He said, ruffling her hair. She continued to glare at him, not saying anything. He huffed slightly, but was still smiling, and took a seat next to her. He was holding a can of soda in each hand. He held one out to her, and Emily just stared at it as if it was going to bite her. 

“It’s not poison,” Jack snipped, annoyed. “It’s just Coke!” He extended his arm further, insisting on her taking the can. Prolonging another moment, she reached out and took the offered beverage, taking her time pulling the tab back and bringing it up to her lips. Jack took a big gulp of his while Emily chanced a sip. It didn’t taste odd, so she chanced drinking a bit more.

“Now then,” Jack broke the silence again. Emily looked expectantly, wondering what he had to say now. “I bet you have a lot of questions about us.” She quirked an eyebrow.

“Us?” 

“Yeah. Me, your dad, your mom, your brothers and sisters. Us.” He emphasized. It suddenly struck Emily for the first time that she had gay parents. She was not homophobic, but it was definitely an unusual occurrence. Wait a minute... did he just say brothers and sisters. Oh God, she had siblings. Not just one, but multiple siblings. She must have visibly paled, for Jack looked at her with worry.

“Cailey? Are you alright?” Jack touched her shoulder gently, which brought her back to her a senses a bit more. 

“Um... yeah...I’m just...” She struggled with how to say what she was thinking while not risking upsetting him. “I’ve been an only child up until this point, so to hear I have siblings is.. kind of scary.” A dry, dull chuckle escaped her throat, a result of sheer anxiety. Jack contemplated her words a moment before rubbing her shoulder reassuringly. 

“There’s no reason to be scared. They’re really anxious to see you too.” More like anxious to make her life a living hell, she thought. “We already told them to go easy on you for the time being, so you can get used to things around here.” 

“So... what about my mom? My birth mom?” She decided to ask.

“Your real mom.” Jack corrected. She bit her tongue. “Her name is Toothiana. It’s weird, I know.” Jack gave a laugh as Emily’s eyebrow arched high. “Her parents were.... different.” He took another sip of his Coke before continuing. “We call her Tooth for short. She’s a dentist, and very fond of her job. She has a bit of an obsession with teeth.” Jack smirked. “So try not to be too shocked when she sees you for the first time and wants to look all in your mouth.”

That didn’t sound creepy and unsettling at all, Emily thought. Not a bit. She tried not to focus on that thought and kept the conversation going. “When do we meet?”

“Tomorrow. She wanted to be here today but.... things came up.” Emily didn’t want to even contemplate what kind of things. “You’ll like her, she’s very sweet. Motherly.” 

“What about you and... my other dad?” It felt so weird for her to say. Jack cocked his head at her. 

“What about us?” He seemed ready for an insult. Emily tried to soften her demeanor, to show she wasn’t meaning any ill-harm by those words.

“I mean... how did you two meet? What is he like? Is living with two dads different than a mom and a dad?” She asked her questions as innocently as she could. Jack relaxed considerably and looked amused.

“It’s not really different. It might be for you at first, but we’re the same kind of parents as a regular mom and dad. I want to make it clear though, that we are dads.” His look grew sterner. “I am not “the mom” of the two and neither is he. So don’t get any funny thoughts like that in your head.” The girl gave a look of understanding, so Jack continued. “How we met is a long story.” He chuckled, a faraway gaze in his eyes. “It was a long, long time ago. And was the best thing that happened to me, besides you kids.” He pinched her cheek lightly. “What is he like? He’s grumpy and mumbles under his breath a lot and likes to be reclusive, so you’ll often notice me pulling deliberate, outrageous pranks on him to get him from hiding in his shell.” Jack grinned, and try as she might Emily couldn’t help her amusement from the teasing affection in his voice. “But underneath that pissed off looking face, he’s a big damn teddy bear. I’ve never known a man that loves cuddling as much as he does.”

“It’s times like these I wondered what possessed me to want to marry you.” The devil himself spoke up from the doorway, looking in at Jack with a look of annoyance. The shorter man laughed, while Emily felt herself growing more uncomfortable with the second presence nearby.

“I don’t know. My stunning good looks maybe? My amazing sense of humor? My gift for fun?” He swerved his head in Aster’s direction, all wide eyed and innocent looking. Aster laughed sarcastically.

“You still deluding yourself with that bullpucky?” Aster crossed his arms, walking into the room. 

“If it’s ‘bullpucky’ then why do you keep coming back for more?” Emily felt invisible as they bantered, but couldn’t help but be oddly intrigued by watching them interact. They seemed about as normal as any other couple would. But given their status as killers, their relationship being healthy was severely questionable.

“I put up with you for the kids.” Aster replied, his tone dry. But the sparkle in his eyes gave away his affection, and he came closer to where Jack and Emily sat on the bed. She avoided looking at him. Jack ducked his head to try and meet her gaze. 

“It’s normally polite to say hello to someone when they enter the room, sweetheart.” While his tone was nice, it was clear he wasn’t going to tolerate her withdrawing. Making herself look up at her other father was difficult, she felt like a little kid again. Scared and overwhelmed. 

“Hi.” She forced the word out of her mouth. It came out as weak, and she couldn’t keep her eyes on his for more than a second. He intimidated her much more than Jack did. He took a seat next to her on the bed and surprised her by pulling her into his arms. Her body went taut, but he hugged her closer.

“Don’t be scared baby.” He whispered. His gruff voice became incredibly gentle and paternal. It surprised Emily immensely, but it helped calm her down some. He petted her hair softly, giving her a few quiet moments to settle down, before pulling back a tad and finding her eyes meeting his more easily this time. 

“There, ya see? I’m not gonna hurt ya.” Aster reassured her, smiling. 

“I told you, he’s a big teddy bear.” Jack piped up. Aster shot him a look.

“I’m not a teddy bear, stop saying that!”

“Would you prefer bunny instead? Cute and cuddly and adorable like a little bunny rabbit?” Jack’s voice was brimming with laughter, especially as Aster’s face grew more indignant. 

“You’re lucky our child’s sitting in between us or I’d knock out those pearly whites of yours.” 

“And then Tooth would have your head on a silver platter.” Jack countered triumphantly. 

“Has you told you about your mum?” Aster asked Emily. She twitched from nerves as she was being focused on again.

“Um, a little bit.” She replied. Jack scooted closer, wrapping his arms loosely around his daughter from behind.

“I told her to expect fingers in her mouth when her mommy meets her tomorrow.” He added. 

Aster chuckled. “Yeah, ain’t that the truth.” He looked down at Emily. “She thinks your dad’s teeth are just the prettiest little things to ever exist.” He mock grinned at Jack, who was making a face at his remembrance of Tooth’s first time meeting him. He had to practically bite her fingers off to get her out of his mouth.

“Yeah, let’s not go there.” Jack stated simply. His partner laughed.

“So... Dad....” Emily started, but Aster stopped her. 

“He’s Dad.” He pointed to Jack. “I’m Papa.” That was awfully childlike. 

“No dad and daddy?” She asked gently. Being forced to refer to a sociopath as Papa was embarrassing and traumatic. He frowned.

“No.” His voice got strict. “He’s Dad, I’m Papa.” He repeated. Well, great, now she had to speak as if she was a two year old. She cowered in submission.

“Okay.” He kept staring at her. “Sorry... Papa.” God did that feel vile on her tongue. Aster was pleased though and smiled. 

“Good girl.” He stroked her cheek with his thumb. Jack rested his chin on Emily’s shoulder.

“So, I kind of went over the ground rules with her already. Anything you wanna add?” He asked. Aster shook his head.

“No, we’ll see in due time if any more needs to be said.” That sent shivers down the girls spine. It didn’t sound good. “You must be hungry, lovey. Come downstairs and we’ll make you some breakfast.” He patted her leg and gave her a kiss on the cheek before rising. He walked around the bed and left the room. Jack stood up and offered his hand to her. Trembling slightly, Emily put her own in his and let herself be led down the stairs to the kitchen, where Aster was already getting a headstart on cooking.

As the day progressed, and the time dragged on like a snail, Emily observed the interior of the house as intricately as she could, to map out details for her escape route later. There was a short distance from the stairs to the door, which meant it should be easier for her to get out unnoticed. The hardest part was going to be getting down the steps quietly. As she mulled over her plan, she attempted conversation here and there, to make them think she was cooperating, although she was genuinely curious. 

They didn’t go into too many details, stating they wanted to wait till she was more settled in before they filled her in on everything. They explained that she had two older brothers and two older sisters, one of the sisters being the child of her mother and husband, a man named Sandy. The two oldest siblings were biologically Aster’s, a twin boy and girl known as Aston and Lily. Then there was her brother Jacob and herself, both biologically the children of Jack. She couldn’t bring herself to ask any questions about them killing, it was too much for her to stomach. They apparently were waiting to talk about that as well, as no mentions of it were made.

"Um, Dad, Papa? She began hesitantly. She had been sitting quietly at the kitchen table for the better part of an hour and was bored. Both men turned away from the sink where they had been doing dishes. They both gave her a questioning look. 

"Um, I was wondering if maybe I could watch some TV or read a book or something?” She let her voice trail off at the end. Jack smiled and answered,

“Of course you can sweetie. Like I said, we aren’t your wardens. Just don’t try anything funny because we aren’t watching!” He wagged a teasing finger at Emily, but there was a cold bite to his voice that said he wasn’t playing around. “TV’s in the living room around the corner, and there are some books on the shelves in there as well.” And with that, he and Aster turned back to the sink and continued their previous conversation. 

Emily stood up slowly, waiting to see if the movement would elicit a response. When it did not, she walked into the living room. She decided to watch television, because it would be good background noise while she figured out the details of her escape plan. Grabbing the remote control off of the coffee table, she plopped down carelessly on the couch. With a cry of shock and pain she leapt back up again. Jack and Aster came skidding into the room.

“Something stabbed me!” Emily cried, pointing at the shallow cut on her calf. Aster walked forward and carefully examined the couch cushions while Jack retrieved some rubbing alcohol and a band-aid. 

“Ah ha!” Aster announced, as he extracted a small switchblade from between the cushions. “It seems that your son has been leaving his knives around again.” He threw a mock stern look at Jack, who rolled his eyes and replied,

“Why is it that he’s your son when he brings down a man twice his size but he’s mine when he leaves a knife in the couch?” Both men laughed, but Emily felt as if someone had dumped ice water down her back. Where they honestly proud of their son having killed a man? And they didn’t care that he carried knives, multiple knives around? And left them in couch cushions so that people sat down to be stabbed? Emily was shaken out of her reverie by a stinging pain in her calf. She looked down to see that Jack had dumped half a bottle of rubbing alcohol on her cut. When she hissed, he chuckled and said,

“Don’t be a baby.” Then he wiped off the excess and placed a band-aid over the cut. He stood up, planted a kiss on Emily’s forehead and declared, “There. All better.” Taking the knife from Aster he continued “And I’ll be having a little chat with Jacob about where he’s leaving his knives.” Gesturing to Aster, he led the way back into the kitchen. Aster followed, pausing only to ruffle Emily’s hair. 

Emily took a deep breath and sat gently down on the couch, this time wary for more knives. With a sigh, she flicked on the television. Her first goal was to find out where she was, then she could work out the best way to get back to her family. Her real family, she said spitefully in her head. The thought of her mothers worried face was ever present in her mind as she flicked through the channels, looking for the local news.

Finally she found what she was looking for. She caught the tail end of a news report about a local cat mascot going missing then it broke to commercial. With a groan, she waited it out. When it came back on, she found what she was looking for. The weather report came on, and she felt her stomach sink.

Pennsylvania. She was in Pennsylvania. She was 2000 miles away from her home. She forced herself to take deep calming breaths. She would either have to steal money for a bus, or she would have to hitchhike. Neither option seemed preferable. Then again, she thought as she leaned back to look at the car sitting in the driveway, I could just steal their car. Stealing from murderers and kidnappers wasn’t wrong, she assured herself. Now where did they keep their keys?

She stood up and walked back to the kitchen, looking for a hook or a spot where the men habitually dropped their keys. There! They were on a hook next to the back door. She tried to sneak back out of the room before either of them noticed, but she wasn’t quick enough. Aster’s head popped up, and he caught her eye. 

“Did you need something pumpkin?” he asked with a look of fatherly concern on his face. Emily thought quickly.

“Um, I was,” she faltered, then quickly recovered. “I was hoping for a glass of water.” She desperately hoped that he would believe she was just nervous. When he smiled and reached for a clean glass, she was able to breathe again. He handed her the glass with an affectionate smile. She thanked him and walked back into the living room to plan her escape. 

The afternoon passed uneventfully. After Aster and Jack had finished the dishes, they came and sat on either side of her on the couch, an experience that Emily didn’t dislike as much as she felt she should. It was just so difficult to hate them, she thought to herself, why do they have to be so damn nice to her? Jack changed the news, claiming that it was terrifically dull, and put on the Looney Tunes. Aster spent much of the evening grumbling about “These damn kiddie shows.” But seemed to quiet down a little whenever Bugs Bunny was on. 

It was well after 10 o’clock when Jack gave a loud yawn and stated that it was bedtime. 

“Do you need help finding your room again honey?” Aster asked when he noticed the lost expression on Emily’s face. She nodded embarrassedly, then followed Jack and Aster upstairs. They paused before the first door on left of the landing. 

“This is the bathroom you’ll be sharing with your sister Lillian.” Jack said, indicating the door with a sign stating “Girl’s Only”. He gestured to the door on the right. “And this is the bathroom for your brothers.” Then lead her down the hall and to the right. Aster pushed open the door and Emily recognized the room in which she had woken up. Aster lead the way in as Jack continued, “Now, we don’t have much for you to wear yet. You wouldn’t fit in Lilly’s clothes; she’s at least a foot taller than you. We borrowed a couple of things from Tooth for you to wear until we can get you some clothes of your own.” 

Emily pulled open a couple of drawers and saw that they were empty. Finally she found the right drawer and pulled out a long blue t-shirt. It had a pair of matching green shorts. Much better, Emily thought to herself. 

“Thank you. I think I’m going to change now, if that’s okay?” Anything to get out of this god-forsaken pink nightgown! They nodded and left, Jack pulling the door closed behind him. Emily quickly changed and did a quick inventory of the room. She found a pink backpack in the closet, along with her clothes she had been wearing at the warehouse, freshly laundered and folded. She also found two more pajama type outfits in the dresser, and decided she would take it all with her when she left. She wasn’t going to travel 2000 miles with only one pair of clothes. She knew she would have to stop and buy some underclothes at some point, but that could wait for at least a couple hundred miles. She heard footsteps outside her door and vaulted into the bed. 

“Cailey honey, are you decent?” Jack called through the door. When she had pulled the covers up to her chin, Emily called, 

“Yeah, I’m decent.” Jack poked his head around the door, then both Jack and Aster came and sat on the edge of Emily’s bed. Aster placed a hand on Emily’s temple, brushing the stray hairs that had fallen into her face. 

“We’re so glad you’re home with us Cailey.” Aster crooned as he petted her hair. 

“We really are.” Jack agreed, stroking her cheek. Emily tolerated the intimacy because she knew that in less than a few hours, she would be long gone from here. 

“Good night Dad. Good night Papa.” Emily mumbled sleepily. She snuggled her face into the pillow. This elicited a soft chuckle from Aster, who kissed her forehead before saying, 

“Good night pumpkin.” 

“Good night Cailey, if you need us, we’re two rooms to your left.” Jack leaned forward and gave her a kiss of his own in the same spot. Straightening up, he took hold of Aster’s hand and led him out of the room. Aster flipped off the light switch and pulled the door shut behind him. Emily breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness that was over. Now she just had to wait for them to be asleep. Three hours should be long enough, right? She glanced over at the clock on her bedside table. Two hours and 59 minutes to go...

Two hours and 59 minutes later, Emily shook herself out of the dose she had fallen into. As quietly as she could manage, she slipped out of bed and across the room to her closet. There she loaded the backpack with every bit of clothing she could find, including the awful pink nightgown, thinking that it might work well as a blanket. She peeked out the window and made sure that the car was still sitting at the end of the driveway. Assured of herself and her plan, she crept over to her bedroom door. 

She opened it just enough to slip through, then closed it silently behind her. She tiptoed through the moonlit hallway, pausing every couple feet to listen for sounds coming from the mens bedroom. She slunk down the stairs and into the kitchen. She slipped the car keys carefully off of their hook, ensuring that they didn’t make the slightest jingle. Emboldened by her success, she made her way quickly to the front door. When the bolt clicked open, Emily paused again to listen for any sounds. When she heard none, she opened the front door just the barest sliver, and squeezed her way through. She pulled the door behind her, then ran to the car, slamming the key in the lock. She yanked the door open and threw herself in. She fumbled slightly trying to get the key in the ignition, but she finally managed and-

Nothing. Nothing happened. Emily started to panic. There were no lights on in the dashboard display. What did that mean? Was the battery dead? 

“Fuck.” She whispered. She reached down and fumbled for the latch for the hood. She tugged and felt a satisfying pop. Emily hopped out of the car and ran around to the hood. She pulled on the hood, but was brought up short by a secondary latch.. “Shit” She began to fumble around, trying to feel for the catch when a voice behind her made her whirl around and stumble back against the car. 

“You really should watch your language young lady.” Aster was standing five feet away, his arms crossed and his face in shadow. “Now, would you like to tell me what you’re doing or shall I?” When Emily didn’t say anything, he continued, “You memorized the layout of the house earlier when we first brought you out of your room. You made note of the exits when we got to ground level. You watched the news to find out where we were. You didn’t come into the kitchen to get water, you were looking for the car keys. You packed yourself a bag when you thought we were asleep. You snuck out to steal our car and drive all the way across the country to rejoin your flea-bitten human parents. Have I missed anything?” 

One part in particular caught Emily’s attention the most, and it was the first thing she spoke about. 

“Human parents?” What in the flying hell did that mean? 

“That’s right, human parents. Is there something unclear about that?” He sounded more annoyed.

"What do you mean by that? Are you not... human?" Emily felt stupid for asking such an absurd question, but she remembered the flash of ice in the warehouse; the jagged crystals summoned by an angry Jack and her heart dropped to her stomach. But no, that couldn't have been real, Emily thought desperately. They must have faked it somehow. But the more she looked at Aster, the more convinced she became it was no trick. There was no mirth in his eyes or his voice; only complete sincerity.

“Didn’t the stunts at the warehouse give that away?” He chuckled, looking even more intimidating, especially since she still couldn’t see him properly. Before she could ask for further elaboration, he spoke again, no mirth in his tone.

“This is your first and only warning. You come back inside, right now, quietly, and we’ll pretend this never happened. I won’t even tell Daddy about it.” His words had a hint of light-hearted promise before becoming razor sharp once more. “And no more of this planning to escape business. ‘Cause you’re lucky it was me that caught you.” He let the words hang in the air for a moment, the clear threat behind them enough to send a chill up Emily’s back. “Now, are you coming, or are we going to have more problems?” He held out a hand to her. Hesitantly, Emily reached out a hand and placed it on top of Aster’s. 

He led her back into the house, up the stairs and back to her room. He waited in the doorway as Emily unpacked and placed the clothing back into their drawers. When she had stowed the backpack back in the closet, she stood in the middle of the room and waited to see what he would say. His face still looked stern, but he strode forward and gave her a one armed hug. 

“I wish you would give us a chance. We really do love you Cailey, and we want you to be happy. Give us that chance?” Emily nodded into his shoulder. “Good night, sweet dreams.” He turned and walked back out the door. 

“Good night Papa.” Emily called back in a whisper. Aster turned back for a moment and smiled. Emily let out a small sigh. What was she going to do now?

The next morning dawned bright and early, but Emily slept right through it. She would have slept quite late if left to her own devices but at 10 o’clock on the dot there was a knock on her door. With a groan, Emily rolled over. 

“Five more minutes...” She mumbled into her pillow. The door gave a creak, and Jack’s voice issued from the crack.

“Papa made pancakes.” he said in an enticing tone. The smell of pancakes wafted in with his words, and Emily’s stomach gave an audible growl. “I guess somebody’s hungry!” He said with a laugh. “Come on down when you’re dressed.” 

Lured by the promise of pancakes, Emily pushed herself up on her elbows. She breathed deeply for a moment before rising and dressing. She passed over the skirts in favor of wearing her jeans again. Maybe they’ll let me do some laundry, Emily thought to herself. She searched through a pile of pink shirts and decided on a pastel pink. At least there aren’t any frills, she thought gratefully. But as the events of the night before came rushing back, her cheeks flushed with shame.   
The thought of her failed escape attempt and the strangely kind gesture she had received filled her with an odd mixture of remorse and begrudging gratitude. She was ashamed that she had been tricked so easily. He had known she would try to escape, but instead of stopping her, he had let her try and escape. And when he had caught her, he hadn’t been angry with her. He had seemed... 

She thought for a moment before finally admitting to herself that he had seemed disappointed; disappointed that she hadn’t managed to escape or that she had tried at all, but there had been no mistaking that tone. It was the same crestfallen look her real father had worn when she had come home blind drunk. And the worst part, Emily thought as she pulled the pink shirt over her head, is that I feel guilty about it. She felt the deep pit of guilt sitting heavy in her stomach. But she shouldn’t feel guilty; she was trying to escape from her kidnappers. It wasn’t her fault they were being so nice to her. 

With a final tug to straighten the hem, she stared herself down in the mirror.

“I will not be fooled.” Emily said aloud to her own reflection. “I must not be tricked.” She gave a quick nod, and followed the smell of bacon down the stairs. 

“Good morning sweetheart!” Jack shouted when Emily entered the kitchen. He leapt up from his place at the table and ran forward to embrace her. Emily tensed, but allowed him to hug her. 

“How did you sleep Cailey?” Jack said, gesturing her to sit at the kitchen table. Emily shrugged slightly, then took the proffered chair, sitting awkwardly on the edge. She glanced at Aster, who was busy fussing over the stove. She looked away quickly to avoid making eye contact as Aster turned towards her. He slid a heaping plate of pancakes, eggs, and bacon down in front of Emily.

“I hope you like your eggs scrambled, cause I broke the yokes.” Aster remarked as he turned back to the bacon sizzling on the stove. 

“They’re fine.” Emily mumbled as she picked up her fork and pushed moodily at the eggs. The guilty feeling was back, but she pushed it down. She picked at her food in silence as the two men ate and chatted. 

“Aren’t those the jeans you were wearing yesterday Cailey?” Jack asked. Emily had not been paying attention, and so missed the question. Jack waved to get her attention. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, I zoned out.” She shook herself slightly and focused her attention on Jack. “What did you say?” Jack looked annoyed for a moment, but pulled the smile back on his face.

“I said, aren’t those the jeans you were wearing yesterday?” He looked at her intently, and Aster glanced down to check. Emily blushed slightly, but she gathered her courage.

“Yes they are. I was actually going to ask if I could do some laundry today.” She declared, putting as much boldness as she could muster into her words. “I also don’t have any underwear,” She felt the heat rising in her cheeks but didn’t let herself stop for fear she wouldn’t be able to start again. “Or any toiletries.” 

Every fiber of her being was telling Emily to run away, but she made herself stare them down. If she was going to be stuck here for god only knew how long, then she had to stand up for herself. She waited and watched, terrified that they would suddenly turn on her. Aster and Jack looked at each other with mirrored expressions of shock. The moment was broken when Jack roared with laughter. 

“I knew we were forgetting something!” Jack’s laugh subsided to a chuckle. “Sorry about that honey, we’ll have your mom take you shopping for your lady things.” Jack’s laughter renewed when he turned back to Aster and saw his still shocked and uncomfortable expression. “Oh come on, you knew she was a girl, relax!” Jack slapped Aster on the back, then stood up and collected the dishes, still chuckling. Aster shook himself, glanced up at Jack, then back down to Emily. He smiled gently and said,

“I take it you didn’t examine the bathroom you share with Lillian yet, eh?” When Emily shook her head, he nodded in the bathrooms direction. “Go ahead and take a look. Let us know if there’s anything else you need.” Aster stood and strode over to help Jack with the washing up. Emily waited for a moment. His words had sounded like a dismissal, so she should be able to walk away, right? She stood carefully, and walked backwards out of the kitchen. When no one called her back, she walked quickly up the stairs and headed for the bathroom. 

She pushed open the bathroom door. She had only been in here a few times to answer the call of nature, and she hadn’t lingered. Now she took the time to examine the small room. It was ordinary, just a toilet, a sink, and a shower. Emily reached forward and pushed back the shower curtain. She froze when she saw what was inside. The shower itself was normal, but the collection of items waiting on the shelves caused a bubble of panic to rise in her chest. They weren’t just shampoo and conditioner; they were her shampoo and conditioner. They were even arranged in a mock parody of their original positions. They had been inside her home. Those...Those monsters had been inside her home. What had they done to her parents? Jack had said they were alive but- 

She remembered the abused form of Rowley who had haunted her dreams. Emily’s eyes grew wide, and she turned and bolted down the stairs. She came to a skidding stop right in front of Jack and Aster, who turned and stared at Emily with looks of confusion.

“What’s wrong Cai-” Aster began, but Emily shouted over his words. 

“What have you done to my parents?” Her breath came in heaving gasps. Jack took a step forward with his hands raised slightly.

“We’ve done nothing Cailey. What’s wrong, what hap-” 

“Not you two, my real parents, what’ve you done to them! Those were my things in the bathroom,” Emily gestured behind her. “You arranged them just like how I had them back home. The top was even off the shampoo! You stole them from my parents house, now tell me what you did to them!” Emily knew then she had crossed a line. Jack’s whole demeanor changed in a second. His gentle smile was replaced with a sneer. His normally playful eyes had been replaced by icy diamonds, and the very air had seemed to chill. The change was so abrupt and the image so frightening that Emily took a few steps back. Jack’s face twitched slightly as he began to speak in a tones of barely contained rage.

“Your real parents?” Jack advanced on Emily.” Your filthy human parents? Do you really want to know what we did to them?” Emily back farther away, her eyes still wide, but now out of fear for herself. She backed herself up against the wall, shaking her head frantically. Jack’s stare felt as if it pierced her very soul and Emily found herself mumbling “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” But still Jack advanced until his face was inches from her own. He raised a hand and Emily flinched, waiting for the blow to fall, but instead Jack placed a finger against her cheek. He whispered, voice full of venomous anger,

“Do you know how fragile the human body is to the cold?” This seemed like an odd question to Emily until she began to feel the ice forming over her cheek. “It is ill adapted to deal with intensely cold temperatures.” He paused to let the ice creep up over her nose and to the tears on the other side. “And frostbite.” His eye twitched as he spoke. “Can be extremely painful.” He let those words sink in for a moment. 

Emily was afraid to move, but she heard herself speak in spite of her fear, her face making a slight crunching noise because of the ice continuing to spread from the point at which Jack’s finger touched. 

“You said you hadn’t killed them.” She managed to squeak, her eyes locked on Jack’s. 

“And I lied.” Jack said with a manic grin. The wail Emily released now came from deep in her chest. And she ran. She ran right out the front door, expecting every second to be stopped, but she was not. She ran until she couldn’t breathe, and her legs screamed in protest, but she didn’t stop. 

Finally, after a mile of sobbing and running, she collapsed right in the middle of the road. She hoped and prayed that a car would hit her, she didn’t care. Her parents were gone. She had failed to protect them as they had protected her all these years. Not only were their killers getting away with it, they had Emily now too. And they were abnormal, freaks of natures that had insane abilities that defied physics and human limits. She was too wrapped up in her own misery to notice as Aster approached. With a sigh, he reached down and picked up the sobbing girl in his arms, holding her as he would a child, her head tucked under his chin. 

“Now why did you have to say those hurtful things?” He breathed into her hair as she continued to cry. Emily buried her face into his chest. Here he was again being so nice to her. Why couldn’t he be easy to hate, like Jack was? 

“I’m sorry...” She mumbled into his chest. “I was scared” 

“When we get back, you’ll apologize to your father, do you understand?” Aster said, his voice suddenly stern again. 

“Yes Papa...” Emily felt again the great weight of guilt in the pit of her stomach. She let Aster carry her all the way back. Partly because she didn’t want to speak again for fear he would hear the weakness in her voice, but mostly because her legs felt like jello. 

When they reached the front porch, Aster set her carefully down on her feet. She wobbled slightly, but was able to hold her own weight. She walked into the living room to find Jack sulking on the couch. She glanced through to the kitchen and was astonished to see that the entire room was covered in an inch thick layer of solid ice. Aster must have seen it too, because he groaned and said aloud,

“Again Jack? Don’t you remember how long it took us to defrost the living room last time? And the blasted television was never the same.” 

Jack huffed slightly, but crossed his arms and said nothing, staring resolutely at the television. With an encouraging look from Aster, Emily shuffled forward cautiously. She couldn’t forget the look in Jack’s eyes, and the thought of seeing it turned on her again was terrifying. She made her way around the couch, and sat down gingerly on the edge of the couch next to Jack. 

“Dad?” She began. Jack grunted slightly, which Emily took for a sign he was listening. “I’m really sorry, I-I don’t know what I was thinking. It’s just-” Emily paused a moment to carefully pick her words. “It’s just that I was f-forced to live with those people for seventeen years. It’s,” She paused as Jack’s eyes flickered to her own, then back to the television. She went on, “It’s unfortunate, but normal that I developed a-a bond. With them.” She took a deep breath to make it through the home stretch. “ I know that you are my real parents, and that you love me dearly. I just. I just need time to get it through my head they were-” Emily’s voice broke at the lie, but she fought on saying, “They were just kidnappers, who took me from you. And I...” Emily used every ounce of her strength to keep the tears in. She was surprised when she felt Jack embrace her. He held her tight against himself.

“I’m sorry I blew up at you Cailey. I know that this is a big change for you. We just want you to be happy.” He pulled back from Emily, and looked her straight in the eye. Emily saw just a flash of the ice as he said, “I love you, but this isn’t all on me. You need to work with us to make this transition smooth. We will give you everything you need. But I warned you once already. If you ever refer to those animals as your “real parents” again, there will be serious consequences.” He held her gaze. Emily finally broke the hold, and nodded, murmuring, “Yes daddy.” Jack sat back, his posture relaxing. Suddenly he smiled. 

“Now.” He said in a conspiratorial tone, “we’d better hide before Papa finds us and tries to make us defrost the kitchen, come on!” He grabbed her hand, and whisked her away up the stairs. He pulled her into the hall closet with him, and closed the door behind him, giggling, and making shushing noises. Emily heard Aster’s voice call from the kitchen. 

“Jack, are you gonna- Now where the hell have they run off too!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, I actually am posting again. Crazy, right? Sorry for the enormous gap between chapters! My lovely co-author Maneshi got crazy busy with school and working her two jobs, but now she's off for the summer and back to one job, so I have no excuse to be lazy! Hopefully we'll be posting new chapters relatively frequently.
> 
> And gain, many thanks to my wonderful co-author Maneshi, who will also be posting this on fanfiction.net.


	4. Shopping and a Cat

The defrosting had taken all afternoon, and well into the night, and after it was done, Cailey had found herself passing out as soon as her head hit the pillow. But that didn’t mean she had a restful sleep. Vivid, disturbing dreams haunted her throughout the night. Memories blurred into nightmares as she watched Detective Rowley die again and again. She watched as Jack loomed over her mother, trembling on the floor at his feet. Emily met her mother’s eyes, and pleaded with Jack to let her go. Her mother called out, begging for mercy. But Jack just laughed at her, his eyes full of ice. Ice crept across the whole room, and Emily found her screams being muffled as ice encased her mother, her horrified expression staring out from behind her ice prison.

Emily had awoken with a gasp, a scream strangled in her throat. It took her a moment to remember where she was. When she did, she started to tremble. She longed to be in her own bed, in her own home, with her mom in the kitchen cooking breakfast. But that would never happen now. She was gone. Gone and there was nothing that could bring her back. She took a deep breath. 

Glancing at the clock, she was surprised to see she had woken up earlier than she had yesterday by about a half hour. She pondered over what to do. They hadn’t come to get her up yet, so she had a little bit of time to herself. Getting out of bed sounded far too daunting; she had no escape plan in mind and didn’t really want to interact with her parents’ killers. But as she lay there, feeling miserable and heartbroken, it suddenly occurred to her how grimy and dirty she felt. She realized she hadn’t had a shower in a couple of days, and decided that would be a good way to start things off. 

She rummaged through the dresser, picked the least offensively pink shirt, grabbed her jeans off the floor where she had dropped them the night before, and cautiously poked her head out of her bedroom door. She didn’t see anyone, but she paused for a moment. Carefully, quietly she crept out and headed for the bathroom. When she made it in, she pulled the door silently closed behind her, and pushed in the lock. She breathed a sigh of relief. She fumbled for only a moment with the shower knob before managing to coax steaming hot water out of the tap. She stripped and stepped in carefully. 

The hot water felt comforting after everything that had happened, and it soothed her aching legs. She stood for a moment and let it flood over her. She hesitated as she reached for her shampoo. She remembered the argument and the pain of it welled up in her chest. As she lathered up her hair and washed it, she could tell she was crying, even if she couldn’t distinguish the tears from the water. It was like a slap to the face; having items from her home here, to remind her of the good life she had, and now that was all gone. Her parents were gone, and she was stuck across the country with a couple of murderous sociopaths who apparently were her biological parents. She had tried so hard to protect her mom and dad. She thought cooperating would ensure their safety. But they had killed them regardless. Now she had no home to return to.

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. 

“Cailey?” She heard her name being called through the door, but she couldn’t tell whose voice it was. Timidly poking her head out of the shower, she called back in a shaky voice.

“Y-Yeah?” She heard the doorknob rattle, then the voice called back through the door,

“Your mother will be over in an hour, make sure you’re ready!” The comment puzzled Emily for a moment until she remembered that they had mentioned her biological mother. She felt her stomach twist into knots. Was this woman a murderer as well? She remembered that Detective Rowley had mentioned there was at least one woman involved in the murders. It had to have been her biological mother. Who else would her fathers go to to bear their children? Queasiness settled in her stomach the more she pondered over the possibility. She was not looking forward to this meeting, especially if it was going to be anything like yesterday. 

Finally, she turned the water off and cautiously pulled the curtain back, as if expecting one of them to magically find their way past the locked door and be there to greet her. She shivered at the mental image. Stepping out onto the rug, she went about drying herself off. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror. The girl staring back looked very different than the girl Emily remembered from her mirror at home. She looked gaunt and pale, with deep bags under her eyes. Her hair was a tangled mat. She searched around the small cabinet hung on the wall. It was full to bursting with hair products, but tucked off to the side Emily found her brush. 

There was another knock at the door. This time she could make out Jack’s voice calling through the door. 

“You almost done sweetie? Your mom’s gonna be here in about 20 minutes.” Emily paused to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat before calling out an affirmative answer. She got dressed and took a deep breath before unlocking the door, opening it slowly. The hallway was empty, which made her feel relieved. She slowly made her way down the stairs, and found herself entering the living room. Jack was sitting on the couch, watching TV, and eating a bowl of cereal. He looked up when she walked in, and his face lit up. 

“Hi sweetie.” He greeted her cheerily, motioning for her to sit on the couch. She took a seat near him slowly, worried about getting too close. He didn’t seem bothered by it as he kept on talking. 

“How’d you sleep?” 

She hesitated. “Okay.” Her answer lacked confidence, and the look Jack gave her told her he knew better. 

“Aw, what’s wrong sweetie?” He said, a look of fatherly concern on his face. Emily tried and failed to keep the image of him looming over her pleading mother out of her mind as she answered,

“Really, I’m okay.” She didn’t meet his eyes. With a resigned shrug, he turned his attention back on the television. Emily relaxed slightly, and sat back to watch with Jack. She decided she liked this friendly, calm Jack better than the frigid and furious version from the day before. Emily jumped slightly when Aster entered the room and handed her a bowl of cheerios. 

“Morning lovey.” He bent down and planted a kiss on the top of her head. She murmured in return and thanked him for the cereal. He took a seat next to her as she began eating, and she found herself not minding his presence next to her. A sudden hunger appeared out of nowhere, and she found herself consuming the cereal out of genuine satisfaction, rather than forcing the food down her throat. 

“Woah, slow down there kid, you’re gonna choke yourself.” Aster commented with a hint of amusement in his voice. Emily became more self conscious and purposefully slowed down.  
As the minutes ticked by, Emily felt the nervousness build in her stomach. She was scared to meet this woman, and the waiting was killing her. Emily just wanted her to show up so she could stop worrying about it. 

The last ten minutes crawled past, but finally a knock came at the door. A grin spread across Jack’s and Aster’s faces as both men moved to stand up from the couch at the same time. 

“Cailey, take your bowl into the kitchen, your mother’s here!” Jack said as he bounded to the door. Emily fled to the kitchen. As she tossed her bowl into the sink, she heard Jack and Aster talking to the person at the door. Emily took a deep breath, steadied herself, then took a step into the living room. Emily got a momentary glimpse of a short woman with bright blonde hair with blue and green streaks.

“CAILEY!” The woman flew across the room and threw herself at Emily, engulfing her in a tight hug. She squeezed Emily tightly, making breathing a little more difficult. When she pulled back, smiling brightly at her, Emily observed her appearance. They were about the same height, but the other woman was more petite, delicate looking. She had such a radiant expression on her face, and her eyes shimmered a vibrant pink. Was this woman really as deranged as her fathers? Maybe she wasn’t a part of their dangerous group. 

“Oh Cailey, it’s so good to see you sweetheart!” She hugged her again before pulling back to look her over. “I’ve missed you- We’ve missed you so much!” Her mother tenderly pushed a strand of hair behind Emily’s ear, and she couldn’t stop herself from feeling warmed by the seemingly genuine gesture, despite repeatedly telling herself her other mom was still her real mother. 

“You’ve grown up so beautiful.” Suddenly an excited look flashed in her eyes. “How are your teeth? Are they as white as your fathers? Let me see!” Without warning she pried Emily’s mouth open and pulled at her lips, looking inside at her teeth. Emily made a noise of protest, taking a step back, but her mother persisted, cooing and awing over her healthy pearly whites. 

Her fathers laughed, predicting this was coming, and let this go on for a few moments finally Jack spoke up. “Let her breathe Tooth, you’re starting to weird her out.”

At that, Tooth hastily pulled away, smiling apologetically at her daughter. “Sorry” She chuckled, a tiny bit embarrassed. “They’re beautiful though, just like your dads. Strong and bright!” It was... odd how excited she was over a set of teeth. But so far she seemed harmless. Jack rolled his eyes, embarrassed over the affection regarding his teeth, and cleared his throat. Both girls looked at the two men standing off to the side.

“She needs some... ‘lady things’. We were wondering if you could take her shopping.” Aster inquired.

“Oh of course!” Tooth clasped her hands together, looking positively enthralled with the idea. “What better way for a mother and daughter to get to know each other?” Tooth took hold of Emily’s hand and dragged her over to the door. 

“Don’t wait up boys!” Tooth cried as she pulled Emily through the doorway and out toward the car. Both men stood in the doorway and waved as the car pulled out of the driveway and sped away. 

The car ride alone with this new woman was made bearable by the fact that she talked non stop. Emily only had to nod, insert the occasional “Yeah”, and Tooth was content to speak to thin air. This also gave Emily time to think. This woman seemed to have her head in the clouds, maybe Emily could sneak away, hide in a clothes rack, and grab a mall cop. She felt a strong twinge of guilt when she imagined Aster’s face when he found out she was gone. She quickly shoved away that part of her. She forced herself to think of her real parents, of how and why they were killed. She imagined the police busting through the front door, taking Jack and Aster to prison. She was so caught up in her imaginings, she didn’t realize Tooth had paused. 

“Cailey? Cailey dear, are you okay?” Tooth asked, her head tilted slightly to one side. Emily flushed at being stared at so intently and was grateful when the light changed and Tooth had to turn back toward the road. Emily smiled weakly.

“I’m sorry, I- Uh, I didn’t recognize my name...” Emily explained sheepishly. Tooth blinked confusedly for a moment, then let out a tinkling laugh. 

“I forgot! They called you something else right? Anna or something, right?” Tooth asked.

“Emily, actually.” She said, put off by Tooth’s flippant tone. Her biological mother didn't seem concerned over the issue.

"It's similar to Cailey. Not my favorite, personally, but it's cute." Tooth remarked casually. Emily chanted to herself in her mind to keep herself from getting angry. She couldn't believe these people just disregarded her past as if it didn't matter. Or as if it didn't even exist. Like the time she had spent away from them was all just empty memories, and today she was starting on a blank slate. She supposed in their minds, it would make sense, but that didn't stop it from infuriating her.

Tooth eventually parked in front of a lingerie store. She had chatted continuously, and despite her light and cheery disposition, she seemed to be smarter than she looked. With the way she spouted off medical details regarding her dental profession, managing to somewhat impress Emily. So far no mentions had been made about any connections to murdering.

The two women walked to the front doors, Emily trailing behind slowly and Tooth coaxing her along. Being forced to go shopping with a stranger who was apparently related to you was awkward enough. Having to do it on top of being kidnapped by psychopaths added a whole other layer.

Once inside, Emily ended up clamming up. Tooth's excited personality hadn't relented, and she went about trying to help her daughter shop for garments with an energy that made the girl feel uncomfortable. Emily wasn't one to boast about such activities, and her mother was being a little too at ease about it.

"Oh, look at this one Cailey! With the lace!" Halfway across the store, Emily couldn't stop her head from peeking up to see her mom holding up a pair of pink panties. "What size are you again?"

Emily ducked her head and her cheeks flushed. Did she have to shout such a thing halfway across the store? The trip was growing more awkward by the minute. Her mother either didn't realize she felt so awkward or she was trying too hard to make her feel comfortable. She kept inspecting different kinds of undergarments, holding them up to Emily, musing about her size (even though Emily told her twice) and voicing her approval or disapproval at each piece.  
"Hmm.. this one's cute, but it's too sheer. This bra's nice, but I don't see it in your size. Oh, look at this nightgown! Your father's probably wouldn't like it, but you could wear it in your room.”

Face glowing like the setting sun, Emily marched over to Tooth, seized her by the arm, and said as quietly and calmly as she could manage 

"T-Mom, can you please not shout about bras across the store? And I don't want anything frilly, just something comfortable." The expression of confusion on Tooth's face only lasted for a moment. Then she burst into laughter.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Cailey dear! I didn't mean to embarrass my little girl!" Tooth pulled Emily into an uncomfortably tight embrace. "Don't worry sweetness, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. We're all ladies here!" She proclaimed as she made a sweeping gesture to indicate the 6 or so other women in the store. At least they had the decency to look abashed, Emily thought. Tooth flashed her a winning smile. 

"Mom," Emily began, choosing her words with care. "Can you please pick out a couple of plain bras, preferably not pink, in a size 34D? I'm going to go look over there at the panties; if you have questions for me, can you please, please just come ask me?" She gave Tooth a pleading look, which Tooth responded to with a look which said quite plainly that she was humoring Emily. 

"Oh okay then. Shout if you need me!" Tooth spun on her heel and headed toward the back of the store. Emily breathed a sigh of relief, then headed over to a rack full of panties and feigned interest while really looking for an escape route. She began to edge towards the door. She pretended to be interested in a long shelf full of lacy things which allowed her to shift out of sight of Tooth. She walked quickly to the door, pausing only a moment as it slid open automatically. Rather than heading toward the open parking lot, Emily ducked to the side and slid down the alleyway between to the two shops. There was a large dumpster, and an old car parked close to the side of the building. She wedged herself down into the gap between the two. She didn't have to wait long before she heard Tooth's voice shouting from the front of the building. She pushed herself farther down behind the dumpster, praying that Tooth would head into the parking lot to search. 

The minutes snailed past. Emily's knees began to ache from the crouched position, but she didn't dare move. Finally, when she thought it had been about 20 minutes since she had last heard anything from Tooth, she peeked out from her hiding spot. There was no one in sight. Slowly, because the feeling hadn't returned to her numb feet, she made her way down the alleyway, and towards the back of the building. Emily recited the plan to herself over and over: Find someone with a cell phone, call the police, and be rescued. 

Her feet felt heavy, and she paused for a moment to try and shake the feeling back into them. She tried moving forward again, but they felt heavier than ever. She had just managed to round the corner behind the building when she had to stop altogether because it wasn't just her feet. Her whole body felt like dead weight. She stumbled forward, scraping her hand against the wall. Looking down, she could no longer see her feet because they were shrouded in darkness. But no, Emily thought as she looked up, it's broad daylight. Scared and confused, she fought against the encircling shadows, but they pulled and dragged her down until she collapsed with her back against the wall, panting and struggling for breath. 

She heard footsteps approaching. Her eyes flew wide, and she fought to see through the darkness.

"Who's there?" She called. A horribly familiar, taunting voice answered back.  
"Hello again Emily." Pitch seemed to melt out of the shadows surrounding her. Cold fear dropped hard into her stomach. He gave a lazy smile. "It's so good to see you, how's the outing with mummy going?" He chuckled and gestured around him saying, "Obviously not well if they've had to call me in to find you. Although honestly," Pitch knelt down next to Emily "You really are quite awful at this escaping business." He let out a high, cold laugh.

With a wave of his hands, Pitch swept away the shadows and Emily was able to move again. Pitch offered her a hand, Emily accepted it, and he helped her to stand. Emily brushed herself down, the first feelings of shame bubbling her stomach. She started to explain herself, but Pitch forestalled her saying, 

"You may want to stow the explanations, I think I hear mommy coming." And sure enough, when Emily turned, there was Tooth running down the alleyway, looking frantic. Tooth stopped short when she saw Pitch. She looked back and forth between the two people standing in the dark alleyway, then placed her hands on her hips. 

"So is someone going to explain to me what just happened?" Emily opened her mouth to explain, but Pitch cut her off saying, 

"What do you mean? Aren't I allowed talk to her without the inquisition popping up?" Shocked by Pitch's words, Emily fought to keep her face smooth. Tooth looked again between the two, and waved a hand to elicit more explanation. Pitch rolled his eyes, "Really, I have to explain this to you? What are you simple? I saw her inside the store. I didn't want to go inside, for obvious reasons, so I asked her to come outside and we were chatting. Why, what do you think happened?"

Tooth's expression had gone from confused to furious in about three seconds. She swelled with fury, her every hair standing on end. "What do you think I thought? I thought she'd escaped again! Didn't you see the all hands alert I sent out?" 

Pitch feigned a look of shock and surprise. He reached into a pocket and pulled out a small black cell phone. He pressed a couple buttons, raced his eyebrows and said, 

"Oh look at that, I suppose my cell phone must've been on silent." Pitch said in a tone of mock surprise. Shrugging slightly, he stuck the phone back into his pocket. "So you panicked, and put out an all hands alarm, because I wanted to talk to your daughter. I mean, I know we don't get along Tooth, but isn't that a little bit of an overreaction?" 

"This has nothing to do with you, you idiot!" Tooth shouted, practically buzzing in anger. She reminded Emily of a bird whose feathers had just been ruffled. "She was just gone! What on earth was I supposed to think! The last time she disappeared, I didn't get to see her for seventeen years!" 

Pitch made it tutting sound, and shook his head crossing his arms. "Can you believe her Emily? Isn’t it awful to know that your own mother doesn't trust you?" Tooth seemed to deflate before Emily's eyes. She turned desperately to her daughter and began, 

"No Cailey, it's not that I don't trust you-" Suddenly, as though struck by something, she spun back towards Pitch. "Wait a minute, if she wasn't trying to get away, then why are you down this alley?" Emily thought for moment that Tooth had finally cornered Pitch, but he laughed derisively and said,

"I was about to ask a kidnapped child how she felt about living with her new captors. I didn't think that was conversation I ought to be having in public." Pitch replied with a voice like silk. Tooth swelled again. 

"How dare you!" She began, but Pitch cut her off with a yawn.

"I really must be going. It was good to see you again Emily. Do let me know if they're treating you well. I would hate to think that I had delivered you to cruel captors." And with that he took a step backwards and melted back into the shadows.

“Her name is Cailey you good for nothing--! Get back here!” Tooth shouted into the shadows. “You get back here right now!” When there was no reply forthcoming, Tooth spun around in a huff. 

“Can you believe him?” Tooth half asked, half shouted at Emily. She breathed hard for a moment, then finally let out a long sigh. She looked back over to Emily, who had remained silent throughout the whole ordeal, and smiled sheepishly. “I- I'm sorry I thought you were trying to escape. It’s just,” Tooth paused for a moment, clearly unsure of how to continue. Emily let the silence stretch. Finally, Tooth dropped her head, and let out a long breath. 

“Your papa, he warned me you might try something. He said I should keep a close eye on you. I told him I wasn’t worried, that I could handle it by myself. But when you disappeared...” Her voice trailed off, and there was a deep sadness in her eyes. Tooth moved forward and hugged Emily tight. Taken by surprise, Emily hesitated before placing her arms awkwardly around Tooth, who squeezed tighter in response. Emily was caught in a whirlwind of emotion. She still didn’t understand why Pitch had lied, or why this woman was crying into her shoulder. 

Finally Tooth pulled away wearing a watery smile.  
“So, shall we finish up this shopping trip? I picked out a couple of things you might like.” And with that, she took hold of Emily’s arm and lead her back into the store. 

The rest of the trip passed without incident. After 3 different stores, when they were heading back to Jack and Aster’s house, Emily had enough underclothes to last her a while. She also had two more pairs of jeans, and an assortment of tops. On the drive home, Emily worked up the courage to ask Tooth a question.

“Uh, mom? Who is that man, Pitch?” When Tooth looked confused, she continued, “I mean to me. Jack and Aster are my fathers. You’re my m-mother.” Emily faltered but she pressed on saying “Who is he, like an uncle, or something?” She waited and watched as three separate expressions of dislike and disgust crossed Tooth’s face. She didn’t answer the question and Emily was too afraid to ask again.

By the time that they pulled back into the driveway, Tooth seemed to have completely forgotten about the Pitch incident, and was in a cheery mood. Emily wondered to herself if Pitch had told Jack or Aster yet. She wondered again why he had lied about what had happened. It simply didn't make sense. Why would he try to protect her? She had been astonished when he had called Tooth out on the fact that they were kidnappers. There was obviously some undisguised animosity between Pitch and the rest of them. If Pitch didn't like them, why was he helping them? Emily was torn abruptly from her reverie by Tooth calling her name. 

“What?” Emily asked. Tooth smiled. 

“Are you going to help me carry these things in? I suppose I could call one of your fathers to help?”

“Oh. No, It's okay. I think we can manage.” The words had hardly left her lips, when the front door burst open and both Jack and Aster came sprinting towards the car. Aster, reaching the car first, yanked open Emily's door, and dragged her out. Emily was barely able to protest as she was pressed tightly against Aster's chest. 

“Sandy called and said you sent out the all hands, is everybody okay? Is she alright? Did something happen?” Aster asked frantically of Tooth. Emily attempted in vain to push away from Aster's crushing embrace but he seemed to be stronger than he looked (and Emily thought to herself that he looked pretty strong to begin with). 

“She's fine Aster, there's nothing to worry about. Everything went smoothly.” Tooth managed to say in an affectation of nonchalance. Aster made a disbelieving noise and Jack interjected, 

“Well then, what was with the alarm?” 

“Oh, it was Pitch making trouble.” Tooth tried again for a relaxed tone. 

“PITCH?!” Aster exclaimed, and Emily was astonished to find that he could hold her tighter, and began to push more forcefully against his chest. She glared up at him, and he gave her an apologetic smile. 

“Sorry love, didn't mean to hurt you.” And with that, he released her. Emily caught her breath while Tooth explained Pitch's version of what happened. Both men grew tense when Tooth recalled Pitch's use of the word "captors". 

“He didn't really say that?” Jack questioned, “Did he?” Jack moved forward and placed his hands tenderly on Emily's shoulders. Tooth nodded her head, looking unsettled. Aster’s fists tightened. 

“That cheeky bastard! He has some nerve saying such things!” Aster’s voice rose in anger, and Emily couldn’t help but flinch. Jack’s hands rubbed her arms gently in response, and when he spoke his voice was calm.

“Don’t let him get under your skin Aster. That’s exactly why he does things like that. Because he knows it’ll get a rise out of you.” 

Aster looked at Jack in disbelief, “How can it not bother you? He called our child a hostage!”

“I don’t let it bother me because I know it’s not true.” Jack’s blue eyes flashed with something serious. “Pitch can say it however he wants, but we did what was right. Our daughter was taken from us and we finally have her back now, where she rightfully belongs.” Jack wrapped his arms around Cailey from behind, holding her tenderly to him. She held her tongue as she fervently disagreed with him in her head. 

“And unfortunately, Pitch is the one who helped us get her back.” Tooth pointed out. Her tone was soft, but Aster still snarled. He crossed his arms and huffed, slowly settling down between Tooth’s calm demeanor and Jack’s gaze that said “calm-down-you’re-scaring-Cailey”. 

A few awkward moments passed on in silence, Jack still hugging Emily. Suddenly, he ruffled her hair gently and flashed her a big smile. 

“Did you get everything you needed with your mom?” He asked. She nodded, while Tooth spoke up boisterously.

“Yep, she has enough clothes to last her for a while! We had a good time! Aside from that... whole incident.” She faltered slightly as she referred to Pitch, but kept on smiling. Aster stepped forward and offered to take a bag, and between the four of them they brought in all the bags in one trip. Aster and Jack asked her to show them the shirts she had gotten. Emily found that a little strange, as most dads weren’t interested in clothes shopping results, but then figured maybe they only wanted her to wear certain things. That would explain all the pink shirts and skirts. When she held up her jeans, Aster and Jack simultaneously gave a look of disapproval. 

“I take it you’re not a fan of dresses, are you?” Jacks eyebrow quirked as he smiled teasingly. Emily felt like answering that question was going to cause problems, but it would do no good to lie. 

“No, not especially... I’ll wear dresses for special occasions, but I just prefer jeans and a t-shirt most of the time.” Emily held the jeans to her chest meekly as Aster frowned. 

“But you’re a girl. Girls should wear girl things. You’d look so cute in a dress.” Aster commented, and Emily couldn’t help but blush at that. 

“Sorry... I’m just not crazy about them.” 

“And that’s okay!” Tooth piped up, looking at Aster. “It’s the millennium Aster, girls can wear pants and still be girls.” She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Just because your other daughter likes to wear dresses doesn’t mean Cailey has to.” 

“I wasn’t sayin’ she had to because of Lily. I just don’t think girls should always be wearing jeans. It’s not ladylike.” Aster rebuffed, shrugging. For being so patient the last two days, his new old-fashioned opinion kind of threw Emily off guard. 

“Well, Cailey’s a big girl and she can decide what she wants to wear. So you’re just gonna have to suck it up.” Jack slapped Aster on the back, who turned and gave him a dead stare in return. 

“Bugger off ya bloke.” Aster muttered as Tooth laughed. Emily hid her smile as she bent down to put her clothes back in the bags. 

“I’m gonna go put these away now, if that’s okay?” Emily asked slowly. Her fathers nodded and Tooth jumped up, declaring she would help. Emily was going to decline but Tooth was already heading up the stairs to her room, a bag in each hand. With an internal sigh, she headed up the stairs with the remaining bags. 

Once in her room, Tooth assisted her daughter in putting her clothes away, chatting endlessly as she had done in the car. She also asked what Emily thought of her room. Emily decided it was safe to answer honestly.

“It’s... a bit too pink for my liking. I don’t hate pink, but I stopped wanting it on my walls when I was about ten years old.” 

Tooth smiled sheepishly, and spoke in a sympathetic tone. “Sorry sweetness. I tried to tell your fathers “maybe we should keep the walls white, just in case”, but you’ve witnessed how hard headed they both are. And your Papa still has his mind stuck in the old days and believes all women like pink.” Tooth smirked and shook her head slightly as she took a seat casually on Emily’s bed. 

“Yeah, so I’ve noticed.” Emily replied. She folded up the shopping bags and placed them in the closet, performing the unnecessary task to keep her distance from her mother. When she was done though, she knew she couldn’t keep standing by the closet. So she made her way over to the bed and took a seat next to Tooth, keeping a comfortable distance between them that wasn’t too far away. Emily breathed in deeply, her nerves shaking.

“What’s the matter sweetheart? You don’t look good. Are you feeling okay?” Tooth’s voice was kind and motherly, and she placed a petite hand on Emily’s forehead to feel for any possible fevers.

The absurdity of that question made Emily want to scream, but she was not about to have a secret side of her mother unleashed on her. Experiencing that once was enough, and she did not want to know if Tooth had any kind of freaky powers like her dads did. 

Instead, she swallowed and forced herself to speak calmly. “It’s... been a rough couple of days.” She clenched her fingers into the fabric of her jeans. “I understand no one wants to talk about my past, but...I just can’t forget all the memories from growing up. I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that the man and woman I thought were my mom and dad all this time were just...strangers.” She was not about to say kidnappers again. She paused, fearing Tooth’s reaction. But instead, an arm wrapped her around her shoulders and squeezed her gently, and Tooth scooted closer.

“I know.” Her voice was so gentle and so understanding Emily couldn’t help but relax a bit. “I understand this is hard on you. We’re not trying to erase your past, or make you believe those memories aren’t important. Because memories are very important. But all those years when you should have been growing up with us... we had no idea where you were, or if you were okay. That was hard on us Cailey, me, your fathers, your brothers and sisters... everyone.” Emily glanced up at the hitch in Tooth’s voice, and saw her mother's eyes shining with tears. 

“Instead of making memories with us, your real parents, you were doing it with imposter parents.” Tooth’s voice grew hard in an instant, and it was so intense it scared Emily. Tooth saw the fear rise in her eyes, and controlled her tone. “And that’s not your fault sweetness, not at all. Those people robbed of us your childhood. As a parent, it’s such an indescribable feeling of horror and emptiness to have your child’s birthday come and they’re not there for you to celebrate it. They’re not there for you to surprise them on Christmas morning or Easter Sunday. They’re not there for you to tuck them in at night or to watch them grow up.” A tear escaped from both of Tooth’s eyes, and Emily couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. She looked like a mother truly suffering from the loss of her child. 

Tooth smiled though, and broke herself out of the sad mood and petted Emily’s hair.

“But that’s the past, and we can move forward from that now. We’ll do our best to make up for lost time, okay?” Tooth’s voice was joyous and light, but Emily was afraid to say no. She had a feeling this woman was capable of a lot more than she was letting on. So despite everything, Emily nodded and awkwardly hugged her mother back. Tooth kissed her head and the tender moment was broken as Jack called up for the both of them. 

“Care to stay for dinner, Tooth?” 

Tooth grinned widely, “Yes, I would love to!” Giving Emily’s shoulder one last squeeze, she lead the way downstairs. As they reached the bottom, Emily was surprised by the expressions on Aster and Jack’s faces. They almost looked as though they had been arguing. Emily watched as Aster threw one last meaningful look at Jack, then headed into the kitchen. Jack shook his head, but smiled brightly when he saw Emily at the bottom of the stair.

“Why don't you go help your father, Cailey? Jack suggested, gesturing toward the kitchen. Even though Jack’s expression was encouraging, his tone made it clear that it was a command, not a suggestion. Giving a nervous smile, Emily ducked into the kitchen. She heard them begin to talk again the moment she left the room. She had only a moment to wonder what they could be discussing so grimly, before the sight in the kitchen impressed itself upon her. 

She had never paid attention to Aster when he had been cooking before, but now that she had, it was a little bit intimidating. He seemed to be a whirlwind of knives and pans. Emily hesitated before approaching him, worried that he would swing the knife toward her. He hardly seemed aware of anything else around him, and Emily was worried that if she interrupted him he would be angry. Gathering her resolve, she managed to make a tiny, insignificant cough. 

Aster finished what he was cutting with one last elegant movement, then placed the knife on the cutting board and turned to Emily. 

“Hey sweetheart, did you need something?” Aster asked with a smile. Emily had to clear throat twice before she was able to speak, and then she only managed to mumble something which sounded like “Jack... You... Help?” Aster stared blankly for a moment. Then he blinked, and smiled stiffly. 

“Oh that was thoughtful of him.” He paused for a moment, stock still as though listening. Emily tried to listen as well, but she could only hear the soft rumble of voices from the other room. Finally Aster shook his head, and offered Emily the knife. 

“You know how to cook, kid?” He asked gruffly. Emily carefully took the proffered knife and nodded. “Then chop these.” He pushed some carrots toward Emily, who was more than content to chop carrots while Aster continued his previous dance preparing everything else. He didn’t speak except once when the voices from the living room grew suddenly in volume. 

“You finished with those carrots?” He asked loudly in a transparent attempt to cover the argument. 

“Yes P-Papa.” Emily replied quietly, the words stuck in her throat. Why were they arguing? For that matter, Aster and Jack had looked upset too. What was going on? Had Pitch told them the truth about this afternoon. Were they going to punish her? She shivered at the thought, remembering the ice in Jack’s eyes and the easy manner in which Aster had wielded the knives. She edged slightly away from Aster, and clutched the knife close to herself. Aster must have noticed the jerking movement, because he paused and looked at Emily with concern.

“You okay there pumpkin?” He asked uncertainly, eyes flicking back and forth between Emily’s eyes, and the knife she had clutched in her fist. For one wild moment, Emily imagined plunging the knife into Aster’s eye and running. But she remembered how easily he had kept up with her running before, how he had caught her up before she had gone five feet. She let the idea go, along with her grip on the knife. She looked down, shaking her head and set the knife back on the counter. Taking a deep, shaking breath, Emily managed to stammer,

“Is J-Daddy mad at me?” Emily kept her eyes down, worried that Aster would see the panic behind her eyes and guess its source. She waited a breath. Two breaths. Finally Aster sighed, and Emily felt a strong hand under her chin, forcing her to look up into Aster’s eyes. Staring him down, Emily refused to look away now that he had forced her to look. At last he spoke, still holding her gaze.

“No, he’s not mad at you. We got into a bit of a tiff, that’s all.” He let go of her chin, but Emily kept her gaze on his. 

“Was it about me?” Aster hesitated, and that told her right then and there she was the topic of their argument. 

“It had nothing to do with anything that you did. You’re not in trouble or anything like that. Your father’s just a stubborn bloke who doesn’t like to see things any way other than his.” Aster turned back to the vegetables he had been chopping, and he offered her no more information. With a quiet sigh, Emily continued about her small task. 

“A-Are you happy here with us Cailey?”

For one mad instant, Emily considered telling him the truth. She met Aster’s worried gaze and she imagined letting all the awful things she thought spill out of her like water bursting a dam. She imagined his shocked expression turning to one of fury, his hand flying back to strike her. Deciding against it, Emily forced a broad smile. 

“Yes Papa. I am very happy to be here with you.” Swallowing back bile, Emily forced herself to keep eye contact. Aster gave her a searching look. Finally his shoulders dropped slightly and he gave a half-hearted smile. 

“I’m really happy to hear you say that.” Aster said, pulling Emily into a tight embrace. Exhausted from the day's events, Emily let herself relax into the hug, hating how warm and comfortable it felt; hating herself for the part of her that didn’t want him to pull away.

When he finally did pull away, Aster had a more genuine smile on his face. Emily wasn’t sure how much longer she would be able to keep smiling before her face shattered. It came as a great relief when Aster turned back to the cooking and continued where he had left off, the oven timer going off. Unsure of what to do next, Emily picked up a few of the dirty pans and began to wash them, trying to stay out of Asters way. Fifteen minutes later, Tooth and Jack filed into the kitchen. Tooth looked slightly sullen, but Jack was grinning broadly and walked over to hug Emily from behind. She froze, waited for him to stop, then continued washing. Jack bounced around the kitchen, grabbing plates and cutlery to set the table. 

She couldn’t stop wondering what they had been arguing about. Was it the same thing he and Aster had been discussing before they came downstairs? Her mother looked concerned; the lack of sparkle in her expression, overcome by a more stone-like one, was making Emily so nervous she was beginning to feel sick to her stomach. She kept swallowing to try and calm herself, the aroma and sight of the food not helping her uneasiness.

Emily finished with the dishes and took a seat at the table. Jack sat next to her, practically bouncing in his seat, too excited to be still. 

“Jack...” Tooth’s voice trailed off, but her eyes spoke volumes. They had a look of deadliness and control.

“I can’t help it, sorry!” He just grinned and continued to fidget. Tooth seemed to be holding back a sigh, and Aster brought dinner to the table. 

“Well you’ll have to calm down, cause Cailey and me worked hard on this meal, so you’re going to sit there and enjoy it. No business talk until after dinner.” Aster stated, sitting down with his own plate. Jack gave a small sigh and a muttered “Yes dear…” before digging into the meal. 

Picking up her fork, Emily stared down at her meatloaf without enthusiasm. She could see the little shiny onions hiding inside her slice. Her eyes watered as she remembered her real mother complaining about her hatred of onions. “How am I supposed to make meatloaf without onion?” She had asked rhetorically on a number of occasions. “It just won’t taste right!” She had huffed, but Emily knew her mother was teasing by the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. These people didn’t know she hated onion, Emily thought to herself as she forced herself to eat a forkful of the onion-infested meatloaf. 

One mouthful at a time, Emily worked her way through her sizable portion, focused so intently on keeping the food down, that she didn’t hear the conversation happening around her. The steamed carrots tasted like ambrosia after she had finished the meatloaf. It wasn’t until an abrupt silence that Emily looked up to realize everyone else had stopped talking. They were all looking at her expectantly. Cheeks flush and a mouthful of carrots, Emily stammered, “Y-yes?” 

As Jack laughed, Aster smiled kindly and repeated himself,

“I said, did you want seconds?” You wolfed down that plate so fast, I figured you must be pretty hungry.” 

Emily felt a little embarrassed; she thought she had eaten rather slowly, trying to get the meatloaf down without hurling it up at the dinner table. As wrong as it felt, she was pretty hungry, so she gathered her courage. “C-Could I have some more carrots, please?” The words came out more meekly than she would have liked, but she had said them and that was good enough. Aster’s smile widened as he took her plate to get her some more.

“Aw, she’s just like you, Aster!” Tooth giggled. “Lover of carrots.” The look on Aster’s face was one of utmost pride, and Emily felt her stomach drop, her appetite gone as quickly as a puff of smoke. No, no, no, she did not want to be compared to either of these two monsters. She was not like them! Not in the slightest! She bowed her head to avoid Aster seeing the fury building up in her eyes, and gave him a quiet “Thank you” as he handed her the plate back, piled high with steaming carrots. Though they had tasted heavenly only seconds before, now the flavor was like onion on her tongue. She stabbed the carrots with more force than was necessary, imagining Aster’s face on each one. When Jack made a joke saying, “God, now we have to bring home twice as many carrots for the two of you!”, Emily needed to bite the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from saying something nasty in response. 

When Aster rose and began to clear away the plates, Jack resumed his bouncing. 

“Now can we tell her?” He asked, glancing excitedly from Aster to Emily to Tooth and back again. 

“Yeah yeah, just hang on a moment while I do the dishes that you’re supposed to be doing.” Aster shot back over his shoulder. Fear tore through Emily’s stomach. Her whole body tensed, the blood pounding in her ears. Nothing that made Jack so excited could be anything good. As Aster settled himself back at the table, Emily thought she would vomit from the stress. The three shared a look, then turned to stare at their youngest daugher. Aster began in an even tone,

“Now Cailey, you’ve been here a couple days, and we think you are ready to start taking a more adult role in this household.” Emily’s stomach churned again. She didn’t dare let herself hope that this would be something as simple as dishes or housework. 

“Now, some of the responsibilities that come along with being an adult in the family take a little more,” Aster paused here, searching for the right word. 

“Backbone?” Jack supplied.

“Yes, backbone. But we’ve been watching you, and Jack, Tooth, and I think that you have that. Some of us more than others.” And at that, Jack winked at Emily, giving her a quick thumbs up. “So, we’ve got a little surprise for you.” Aster finished, looking to Jack. 

Jack stood up and motioned for Emily to follow. He lead the way to a door off the kitchen which Emily had not been through yet. Her legs heavy as lead, each step heavier than the last. Jack was grinning broadly at her, urging her forward. Glancing ahead to try and see what the surprise might be, Emily realized that this door must open into the garage. She could see the normal tool boxes and other outdoor supplies that populated normal garages across the country. Despite the myriad of other emotions fighting for attention, Emily was surprised once again at just how normal the garage seemed.

That was until she noticed the cat. 

Emily felt herself start shaking violently but she couldn't stop it. There on the floor in front of her, was a cat. It's legs were tied away from its body, spread eagle on the ground. It was yowling and screaming, the same noises that Emily's heart was making. Jack was speaking, but his words were rolling off her mind like water droplets. She tried to focus, to bring her mind and body back under control. With a look of deep concern, her dad stepped forward and put an arm around her. He made a shushing noise and said gently,

"It's okay sweet pea, it's normal to be a bit nervous the first time."

And into her numb hand, he pushed the handle of a large serrated knife. Whimpering noises issued from her mouth as the reality of the situation forced itself on her. Her eyes flicked from the knife in her hand to the cat still yowling in the floor at her feet.

"N-N-No." She half sobbed. "No, I ca-can't do this. It's just a-a cat, what did it ever d-do wrong?" And with the last word she lost control completely, sobbing hysterically. The arm around her shoulder tightened.

"Now no more of that, hush now. It's just a cat. It isn't so hard, and he's all trussed up nice and easy for you." Emily could hear the irritation creeping into his words. She tried to shake her head no, her movements jerky and erratic. She could hear that he was speaking to her, but couldn’t understand anything he was saying. Finally he released her, and she slumped forward onto her knees. She barely registered the footsteps away from her, or the call of, "Aster, could you come here?" 

Moments later, Aster’s friendly smile blocked Emily’s view of the cat as he knelt in front of her.

"Hey, what's wrong pumpkin? Why all the water works?" He gently brushed the tears from her cheek, careful to reach around the shaking knife which Emily still clutched in her hand.

"You-You-” Emily began, forcing herself to focus on Aster’s eyes, her mind clinging desperately to anything which wasn’t the howling creature behind him. “Do-Do you want me to ki-kill the cat?" Emily choked out between sobs.

"Well of course we do." He said, his smile widening slightly. "We want you to be a full member of this family, which means you have to help us collect souls. How can you do that if you can't kill a cat, huh pumpkin?" He gave her shoulder a little squeeze. "You can do this. No one expects your first time to be perfect." 

He lifted Emily to her feet. She met his searching gaze with wide, pleading eyes; her mind clear now that the cat was out of sight. With a sad smile, Aster pulled her into an embrace once more, the knife clattering to the floor. Emily felt the warmth and comfort she had felt before, her shell shocked mind involuntarily enjoying it. She didn’t even register that she should flinch away when Aster began petting her hair, her mind too full of the shrill sounds coming from behind him. 

At last, Aster pulled away, meeting her gaze once more. He smiled again. 

“You okay?” he questioned. Emily nodded her head slowly, not sure why she had lied. She watched as Aster picked up the knife from the floor, and pressed its handle gently into her palm. 

"There you go pumpkin, you can do this."

With one last squeeze of her shoulder, Aster stepped away from her. 

Feeling outside herself, Emily felt herself walk toward the cat. She watched its struggle in an oddly detached way. She felt her knees bend again, this time kneeling directly in front of the miserable creature. 

She raised the hand which held the knife, her mind far away.

"The next time will be easier, I promise."

Emily’s mind snapped back into her body. ‘Next time’. The words rang in her ears. Next time? There would never be a next time; there wasn't going to be a this time.

"N-No." She dropped the knife, finally back in control. "No." She said again, this time stronger. The tears returned, but her will was firm. She stood and turned to look at the two men. Aster’s face wore a look of disappointment. Jack looked furious. He stepped forward.

"What do you mean no!" He demanded. Emily flinched at the bite in his words, but stood her ground. 

"I don't want to kill this cat. It never hurt anyone, it doesn't deserve to die." Her voice shook slightly. "Please, please don't make me do this." There was no pity in Jack's eyes.

"You are acting like a stubborn child!” he snapped, “You’re an adult, and as such you are expected to pull your weight in this family. Now this is your last warning, kill it now." His words hung heavy in the chill air. Both men stared at her intently. Emily looked from Jack to Aster. Finally she looked away. 

"I can’t." She half whispered.

"Fine." Jack's voice snapped like a mousetrap. "You want to act like a child? Fine then, we'll treat you like a child." He grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her through the door, back into the house and up the stairs. He yanked open the door to her room and threw her inside. Emily stumbled and fell against the bed. She heard the lock click as the door was slammed behind her. She sunk down to the floor, and sobbed, the cat’s yowling ringing in her ears. She could hear Tooth and Jack shouting from the kitchen, and the words she could make out weren’t reassuring. 

Little did she know, they were as bad as their word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not sure if anyone is still interested in reading, but I figured I'd post it because it was written anyway. Sort of just me at this point, since my co-author has adult stuff to do. I have a couple more chapters written so I may update this more than once a year.


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